{"id":7727,"date":"2020-07-13T06:19:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T06:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/?p=7727"},"modified":"2020-07-13T06:19:40","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T06:19:40","slug":"go-on-rewild-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/2020\/07\/13\/go-on-rewild-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Go on, rewild yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding ways to make nature more visible<\/em> is a wonderful book by\u00a0<\/span>Simon Barnes with lovely illustrations by Cindy Lee Wright. \u00a0Published by Simon & Schuster UK \u2013 ISBN: 978-1-4711-7542-8 \u2013 at a cost of \u00a38.99 (p.back). \u00a0You should read it.<\/p>\n

There is a lot to like about this book, and if everyone did even half of what Simon Barnes recommends, their lives would be more fulfilled, and the rest of us would benefit as well.<\/div>\n

As is the fashion, each chapter is introduced with a brief quote. \u00a0Joyce, Shakespeare, Kipling, and Tolkien all feature, but it's CS Lewis and JK Rowling who dominate. \u00a0This is no accident as it aligns with the \u201cspellbinding\" in the title, and the magic theme that runs through the book and the chapter titles. \u00a0Barnes\u2019 point is that nature is there ready to be revealed if only we\u2019re able to look. \u00a0 He says that there are lots of tricks to this: \u201cOnce you know the spells, the wild world starts to appear before you. \u2026 \u00a0Now you don\u2019t see it. \u00a0Now you do.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is, of course, absolutely nothing magical about any of this as Barnes eventually acknowledges; it\u2019s mostly a question of readiness and willingness, and technique and equipment. \u00a0I only mention this as I found all the magic eventually a bit irritating. \u00a0Some (most, perhaps) will likely find it most appropriate. \u00a0<\/span>The publisher, howerver, seems to be on my side. \u00a0They highlight this piece of Barnes text (taken from the Introduction) in a blurb:<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201c\u2026 in Rewild Yourself, Simon Barnes provides 23 wondeerful tips to bring wild creatures you thought forever beyond your scope right into the middle of your own world. \u00a0With a few new techniques, a little new equipment and above all a new way of thinking, birds hidden in the treetops will shed the cloak of anonymity, butterflies you never noticed will bring joy to every summer day and creatures of the darkness will enter the light of your consciousness.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Just so.
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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
The 23 chapter titles might also seem odd but they eventually make sense, having, just like a magician,\u00a0<\/span>successfully disguised the contents from the reader<\/span>. \u00a0\u201cThe Magic Tree\u201d is about the Buddleia bush and butterflies. \u00a0\u201cA Spell for Making Birds and Beasts Come Closer\u201d is about using binoculars,\u00a0\u201cHow to Penetrate the Darkness\u201d is about moth traps,\u00a0\u201cRegaining your Lost Sense\u201d is about recognising birds from their songs,\u00a0\u201cA Vision Seldom Seen\u201d is about using our peripheral vision, \u201cHow to Look Beyond the Edge of the Earth\u201d is about looking out to sea at birds (and more) , \"Travelling the Hidden Roads\u201d is about finding animal tracks \u2013 you get the picture. \u00a0It could have been much clearer \u2013 but much less mysterious and magical. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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Despite all these trifling reservations, I think this is a great book. \u00a0I learned something useful in every chapter. \u00a0But there\u2019s much more to it than mere knowledge and usefulness; something more profound. \u00a0This book is about helping us remember that we\u2019re part of the natural world \u2013\u00a0a wild world \u2013 and that we can get closer to and reconnect with it, one butterfly, bird and bee at a time. \u00a0 But the book wants us to do more that merely (re)connect. \u00a0As Barnes says, doing what he suggests will mean that: \u201cYou become wilder in your mind and in your heart\u201d, and as you do this you understand that you are part of this wild world. \u00a0After that, as Barnes notes in his chapter on naming, comes affection, a feeling of responsibility, a desire to cherish, and a determination to DO something yourself.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I could write a lot more about this wise, practical, humane, witty, and brilliant book, but I\u2019ll stop here. \u00a0Instead, I\u2019m going to read it again, and take up some of the suggestions this time. \u00a0I know it will be good for me \u2013 and those who know me.<\/span><\/div>\n
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This is a review I've written for the NAEE journal,\u00a0Environmental Education<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Rewild Yourself: 23 Spellbinding ways to make nature more visible is a wonderful book by\u00a0Simon Barnes with lovely illustrations by Cindy Lee Wright. \u00a0Published by Simon & Schuster UK \u2013 ISBN: 978-1-4711-7542-8 \u2013 at a cost of \u00a38.99 (p.back). \u00a0You...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":237,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment","category-new-publications"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7727\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/edswahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}