Lou Hamilton
PHOTOGRAPH: LAURA RICHARDSON. *P SCHULTZ, INCLUSION WITH NATURE, ‘PSYCHOLOGY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’, 2002; **A HOWELL ET AL, NATURE CONNECTEDNESS, ‘SCIENCEDIRECT’, 2011; †E NISBET ET AL, HAPPINESS IS IN OUR NATURE, ‘JOURNAL OF HAPPINESS STUDIES’, 2010
Like many of us, I have looked for the meaning of life in the external world. I have thrown myself into my career goals; booked holidays; spent money, surrounded myself with ‘things’ – because it was the only way I knew to prove to myself how much I had in my life. It worked for a bit – minutes, days or weeks – and then discontent began to snake its way back into my consciousness: the ‘desire mind’ is never satisfied – it always wants the next, another, bigger, better, shinier, more.