By Still Waters by Trevor Thorn

Pam by the Great Ouse - January 2020

We are hugely blessed by living just a mile from where this photo was taken recently. In our previous home we had to drive for about twenty minutes to be able to enjoy a similar perspective. Each time we walk by the river when it is calm, it is just as the Psalmist described - a place for restoration of the soul - and who doesn’t need that soul-restoration from time to time?

So, a stroll by a river, or a lake, or by the sea are all to be recommended, and for any author, soul restored, these are magnificent places to look for themes. Water can flow free, run deep, and produce the most glorious of reflections which can in turn give rise to a ripple of ideas: and just being out of doors can give us a freshness that can turn an unproductive morning into an afternoon of new thinking.

Just cast an eye over the very simple picture above - needless to say, captured on the camera of my mobile phone! Zoom in and look at the upside down cows: they are a delight in the riverscape as are the exquisite reflections of the trees which heighten or lower, depending on your way of looking at them, the ragged beauty of the skyline. What you cannot see in this picture is a myriad of geese grazing among the cows in an amazing harmony between the species, even if squabbles break out between ganders: how typically male! Minuscule against the geese are the shy Little Grebes (Dabchicks) who fleetingly emerge from the reeds and immediately dive out of sight when they realise they have been spotted. There is a behavioural to ascribe to a character.

For anyone with a keen eye, the reeds, grasses and the occasional winter flower of the river bank give a further encouragement to those feeling dry of ideas. Even at this bleak time of the year there is a riot of shapes and sizes of leaf and stem begging for you to give them a description or a name. That might just prompt the forgotten phrase you have been desperately trying to coax from that most amazing part of you, your brain.

Ponder too, the unseen. What might be happening below that still surface? A myriad of tiny fish, swarmed together for their own protection, inviting reflection on the more-than-occasional advantage of being lost in a crowd. Below them runs the deep channel that less tranquil waters gouged out long ago. That might just yield a surprising artefact of history: maybe the start or the star of a story.

Just a few ideas that my restored soul has reflected on. Standing in the same place on your own - or in the company of a good friend, you would, without doubt, uncover a vastly different spread of ideas.
But if you are feeling dry of inspiration, still waters can be wonderful places of refreshment. Why not give it a try?

And for those of you who believe in the power of prayer, all of this could helpfully be prefaced by this
Prayer for Creativity.