A couple of weeks ago I took a walk in the forest and I recorded some sounds and some thoughts for you along the way. So here are some musings on walking in the forest in February, on re-centering in these agitating times and how we’re all just trees that are able to walk around.

I hope you enjoy this and it inspires you to go outside and to maybe lean into a friendly tree, or have a quiet chat with the birds that are around you. Let’s escape to the present moment together.

And if you feel like it, please tell me what you are doing to take care of yourself in the comments on the podcast episode page on Substack.

Love

Anna

P.S. You can find my writing on Substack as well: Postcards from the Forest

So… I’m back! For those new around here: Hi, I’m Anna. I wanted to have a podcast for years, and then I went for it, and then it floundered. The dream, the vision never died. But I made it too complicated, I put too much expectation on it. I basically scared myself into not doing it at all. - Do you do that, too? (Please say you do! And if you don’t, I’m very happy for you, too. 😆)

And now I’m pressing the reset button. Not quite back to start, but a new start. A new beginning. Making it simple. Making it off the cuff. Doing it just for the fun, for the enthusiasm, for the connection. Because I have things to share and I hope they feel comfortable, enjoyable, supportive and fun for you to receive.

I’m also playing a snippet of one of my absolute favourite songs in here, it’s called January White by the artist Sleeping At Last - please go and check them out! You can find the song on Soundcloud here: January White And this is the website, with beautiful stories of how the songs are written and what’s behind all of them: Sleeping At Last

Also, I’m keeping the invitations / challenges (whichever word you prefer!) and for this big reset, I really want to know what your big dreams, your enthusiasms, your hopes are for this new calendar year! (And it’s perfectly okay if they are the same as last year!)

I’m so excited about what’s ahead and so, so happy to be back to this mad little project of mine.

Talk to you next time! Lots of love,

Anna

After a long goodbye, summer has left and autumn is undeniably here. I welcome the colourful leaves, but the shorter days have me missing the light-filled evenings of June and July.

That’s why the adventure this time is to do what Frederick the field mouse does in Leo Lionni’s charming picture book and gather supplies of sunshine, colour and words for the dark months. I’m creating a summer jar and you’re invited to join!

I also reference the iconic film Practical Magic and its beautiful theme music: Amas Veritas by Alan Silvestri.

If you’d like to share your summer jars (or autumn jars! or even spring jars?), I’d love to see them! Just tag athousandtinylights.podcast on Instagram. And of course I’d love a comment on Substack, where this podcast is published. You can find the podcast here: A Thousand Tiny Lights

And my writing is under Postcards from the Forest on Substack as well.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Love,

Anna

Summer has arrived and as the days play out in glorious length, I ponder the kind of time travelling that happens when I’m in contact with friends in far places.

And while I’m so grateful for the technology that lets me be in touch with friends on other continents and in different time zones, there is a magic in letters and postcards sent through the snail mail.

There are wonderful old letters and I quote the beginning of one, written by one of my favourite writers, Jane Austen, found on the wonderful blog Letters of Note.

And so the invitation this week is to write a postcard or a letter to someone and send it off in the post. If you do, please let me know! You can do so in tthe comments on Substack (A Thousand Tiny Lights) or on Instagram (@athousandtinylights.pocast)

Are there dandelions growing where you live? I hope so! They are such a joy in this season.

In this episode we are looking at the little meadow lions and the fact that it’s not only edible, but also very healthy. We also listen to a fun - and wise - Sufi tale about roses and dandelions.

For this week’s adventure, I invite you to nourish your body with a new food - foraged or not - to honour the new growth and new energy of spring. If you want to share what food you are trying for the first time, and how you like it, let us know in the comments! And I would also appreciate all the dandelion photos! Drop them in the comments on Substack or on Instagram @athousandtinylights.podcast

I love the birdsong in this season. Do you get woken by the dawn chorus, too?

This week we’re listening to the birds outside my window on a rainy, sweet-scented morning from a few days ago. I read you one of my favourite poems: “A Color of the Sky” by Tony Hoagland - you can find it here:

Poetry Foundation: Tony Hoagland - A Colour of the Sky

I also tell you the facts that really stayed with me from the episode “The Dawn Chorus” by one of my favourite BBC podcasts: “The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry” - but please listen to the whole thing yourself if you want to know all about why birds sing.

And lastly, I invite you to learn the song of one bird in your neighbourhood this week. I will be using the app BirdNET, but there are many apps and websites that can help you identify and teach the songs of birds. Please join me in the adventure as we each get to know our avian neighbours a little bit better - one at a time.

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode - I appreciate your time! If you want to let me know what birds you are listening to, I’d love that! You can use the comment section on my substack, where this podcast is published: annagaynes.substack.com/athousandtinylights

Or tag me on Instagram @athousandtinylights.podcast or write a comment on this week’s post over there.

Hello! Welcome to A Thousand Tiny Lights! My name is Anna. I’m so glad you’re here. This is a little intro, a taste of what’s to come. Or rather, of what I hope will come, because listen: I’m on this journey with you. 

What journey? The one where we re-discover, re-ignite and cherish the little lights inside us. Because we are all born with thousands of tiny lights in our soul, but if we aren’t careful, they can start to dim or even go out one by one. 

…

I found myself thinking, a while ago, that I just wanted to get through the week so I could get to the weekend to get some relief. And although I’d had that thought before - because, honestly, who of us hasn’t? - this time, it really struck me that this is not right. Waiting for another, different moment, waiting for my “real” life to start, daydreaming of some special occasion in the future, or some mystical moment where suddenly everything will be clear and easy and make sense… It sounds nice, but it’s dreaming my life away. And I’m done with that. I don’t want to wait and hope and think: “when x happens, then I’ll be happy, then I’ll feel joy, then I’ll feel lit up”. And all the while, the lights that are twinkling right now are burning unseen. I don’t want to reach the point where I look inside and there are only shadows left, only the memory of light. 

So this is me, trying to keep my lights lit and to re-ignite the ones that burned out. And I’m hoping that you will come with me on this path. 

I want to send us on adventures. Invitations to try something new once in a while. To connect with ourselves and also with other around us. To make us stop and really look at the beauty right in front of us - believe me, it’s there!

…