Illuminating letters: let's go for a walk

Join me for a walk along London's New River

Dear reader,

One of my favourite things about summer is that the longer days allow for more walks. As someone who can’t drive, I spend a lot of time on foot. But even when I have other options, I will almost always opt to walk.

JeanJacques Rousseau, the French philosopher, said, “There is something about walking which stimulates and enlivens my thoughts. When I stay in one place I can hardly think at all; my body has to be on the move to set my mind going.”

It’s a feeling I share often. It’s a feeling I think has been shared by people, and particularly people trying to make things, for as long as we’ve been human. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Dorothy Wordsworth, John Muir, Jonathan Swift, Nan Shepherd, Immanuel Kant, Ludwig van Beethoven, Mary Wollstonecraft, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Steve Jobs, all shared in the love of a great walk.

So, I wanted to share a few scenes and thoughts from one of my favourite walks along London’s New River.

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I’ve printed this newsletter as an accordion zine, and if I do say so myself it’s come out really beautifully. You can pick up a copy and see for yourself and support the London Wildlife Trust at the same time in my store.

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If you know someone who enjoys words, walks or wetland wildlife, please do share this post with them.

Write/draw again next month,

Natalie