Simon Hodges
@simonjstory.bsky.social
Father, writer and storyteller. Discovering the Netherlands through myth and story. Bridge building between culture and landscape. Writes at The Linden Bower.
https://lindenbower.substack.com/
https://lindenbower.substack.com/
The stories of the Netherlands have been pressed as the land has been. This has consequences for how we make contact with ourselves through nature. It’s difficult to feel the rhyme in life - how troubles blend into mercies - when the edges are so closed off.
tinyurl.com/bd4cj6mw
#dutchfolkstories
tinyurl.com/bd4cj6mw
#dutchfolkstories
November 12, 2025 at 2:06 PM
The stories of the Netherlands have been pressed as the land has been. This has consequences for how we make contact with ourselves through nature. It’s difficult to feel the rhyme in life - how troubles blend into mercies - when the edges are so closed off.
tinyurl.com/bd4cj6mw
#dutchfolkstories
tinyurl.com/bd4cj6mw
#dutchfolkstories
Calling weavers, the dreamers, tree-singers, marsh dwellers and undergrowth bards. I’m dedicating the winter to putting audio and written stories in front of you.
Be swell to see you 😊
lindenbower.substack.com
#oralstorytelling
#folkstory
#netherlandsfolktale
#forestdwelling
#baarn
#netherlands
Be swell to see you 😊
lindenbower.substack.com
#oralstorytelling
#folkstory
#netherlandsfolktale
#forestdwelling
#baarn
#netherlands
November 4, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Calling weavers, the dreamers, tree-singers, marsh dwellers and undergrowth bards. I’m dedicating the winter to putting audio and written stories in front of you.
Be swell to see you 😊
lindenbower.substack.com
#oralstorytelling
#folkstory
#netherlandsfolktale
#forestdwelling
#baarn
#netherlands
Be swell to see you 😊
lindenbower.substack.com
#oralstorytelling
#folkstory
#netherlandsfolktale
#forestdwelling
#baarn
#netherlands
Pretty sure my substack is becoming part diary where I work stuff out, part way to release early versions of story. This is more in the diary area - for fans of mythology, oral storytelling and great things that can happen with words, people and a room.
lindenbower.substack.com/p/when-still...
lindenbower.substack.com/p/when-still...
May 26, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Pretty sure my substack is becoming part diary where I work stuff out, part way to release early versions of story. This is more in the diary area - for fans of mythology, oral storytelling and great things that can happen with words, people and a room.
lindenbower.substack.com/p/when-still...
lindenbower.substack.com/p/when-still...
Sunrise breakfast on the polder. Happy Easter everyone 🐣💓🌅
#Poldernews
#Belonging
#Baarn
#Lifeontheapex
#Poldernews
#Belonging
#Baarn
#Lifeontheapex
April 20, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Sunrise breakfast on the polder. Happy Easter everyone 🐣💓🌅
#Poldernews
#Belonging
#Baarn
#Lifeontheapex
#Poldernews
#Belonging
#Baarn
#Lifeontheapex
"We're too soul-driven to acknowledge the existence of taxes (or animal welfare or wastewater management)." Enjoy Guatemala!
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Couple who ran Swedish eco-retreat fled leaving behind barrels of human waste
Flemming Hansen and Mette Helbæk, now in Guatemala, had racked up large tax debt at Stedsans forest retreat
www.theguardian.com
April 8, 2025 at 10:26 AM
"We're too soul-driven to acknowledge the existence of taxes (or animal welfare or wastewater management)." Enjoy Guatemala!
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
Reposted by Simon Hodges
Boycotting the grocery store until they start buying an equivalent volume of groceries from me
April 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Boycotting the grocery store until they start buying an equivalent volume of groceries from me
I just spoke with the widow of the local baker, still serving bread in a shop that's stood since the 1950s, about how tender the lettuces her father grew were and how she's not tasted such a good one since.
"Zij waren botersla" - butter-lettuce.
#RealNews
#RealNews
#RealStory
#ShopLocal
#Baarn
"Zij waren botersla" - butter-lettuce.
#RealNews
#RealNews
#RealStory
#ShopLocal
#Baarn
April 8, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I just spoke with the widow of the local baker, still serving bread in a shop that's stood since the 1950s, about how tender the lettuces her father grew were and how she's not tasted such a good one since.
"Zij waren botersla" - butter-lettuce.
#RealNews
#RealNews
#RealStory
#ShopLocal
#Baarn
"Zij waren botersla" - butter-lettuce.
#RealNews
#RealNews
#RealStory
#ShopLocal
#Baarn
April 4, 2025 at 9:42 AM
"Life is nothing but a series of detours intended to bring us back to those one or two things before which our hearts first opened."
Albert Camus
Heard on Michael Meade's Living Myth podcast
#much
#story
#mythoppetics
#michaelmeade
Albert Camus
Heard on Michael Meade's Living Myth podcast
#much
#story
#mythoppetics
#michaelmeade
March 27, 2025 at 6:42 PM
"Life is nothing but a series of detours intended to bring us back to those one or two things before which our hearts first opened."
Albert Camus
Heard on Michael Meade's Living Myth podcast
#much
#story
#mythoppetics
#michaelmeade
Albert Camus
Heard on Michael Meade's Living Myth podcast
#much
#story
#mythoppetics
#michaelmeade
I want to tell you about the storytelling retreat weekend I'm organising in May.
I want to re-create the kind of weekend where I've made my best friendships, [cont'd in comments]
#storytellingnetherlands
#creativeretreat
#belonging
#mythopoetics
#natureconnection
#getmythordietrying
I want to re-create the kind of weekend where I've made my best friendships, [cont'd in comments]
#storytellingnetherlands
#creativeretreat
#belonging
#mythopoetics
#natureconnection
#getmythordietrying
March 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I want to tell you about the storytelling retreat weekend I'm organising in May.
I want to re-create the kind of weekend where I've made my best friendships, [cont'd in comments]
#storytellingnetherlands
#creativeretreat
#belonging
#mythopoetics
#natureconnection
#getmythordietrying
I want to re-create the kind of weekend where I've made my best friendships, [cont'd in comments]
#storytellingnetherlands
#creativeretreat
#belonging
#mythopoetics
#natureconnection
#getmythordietrying
Such an incredibly moving read from John Harris writing about his son, who has autism, and their shared love of music.
Morning! This is an exclusive extract from my new book Maybe I'm Amazed, about my autistic son James & how music became our shared language. Wait for the Velvet Underground bit at the end www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
‘He nails it on the first take’: how the Beatles helped my autistic son find his voice
After John Harris’s son was diagnosed, conversation always seemed focused on the things he would struggle with. But a shared passion for playing music grew into something James could do – brilliantly
www.theguardian.com
March 15, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Such an incredibly moving read from John Harris writing about his son, who has autism, and their shared love of music.
Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath + study notes
lindenbower.substack.com/p/winter-tre...
#poetry
#womenspoetry
#trees
#treepoetry
#studynotes
📷Gleb Lucky on Unsplash
lindenbower.substack.com/p/winter-tre...
#poetry
#womenspoetry
#trees
#treepoetry
#studynotes
📷Gleb Lucky on Unsplash
March 12, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath + study notes
lindenbower.substack.com/p/winter-tre...
#poetry
#womenspoetry
#trees
#treepoetry
#studynotes
📷Gleb Lucky on Unsplash
lindenbower.substack.com/p/winter-tre...
#poetry
#womenspoetry
#trees
#treepoetry
#studynotes
📷Gleb Lucky on Unsplash
Threading some thoughts together about heading to the land, will share here over the coming weeks, in preparation for the Belonging weekend in the Netherlands in May.
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#landscape
#natureconnection
##mythopoetics
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#landscape
#natureconnection
##mythopoetics
March 11, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Threading some thoughts together about heading to the land, will share here over the coming weeks, in preparation for the Belonging weekend in the Netherlands in May.
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#landscape
#natureconnection
##mythopoetics
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#landscape
#natureconnection
##mythopoetics
9-11 May we’re going to fill you with stories, immerse you in ritual and send you into the woods to celebrate your connection to all life there.
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#natureconnection
#retreat
#mythopoetics
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#natureconnection
#retreat
#mythopoetics
February 14, 2025 at 11:19 PM
9-11 May we’re going to fill you with stories, immerse you in ritual and send you into the woods to celebrate your connection to all life there.
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#natureconnection
#retreat
#mythopoetics
www.storyourself.com/event/belong...
#storytelling
#natureconnection
#retreat
#mythopoetics
February 13, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Books like this becoming vital in the slow work of getting to know the country I've been living in for 16 years.
Most of NL history I've picked up in scraps or projected from what I know from the UK.
(continued in comments)
Most of NL history I've picked up in scraps or projected from what I know from the UK.
(continued in comments)
January 31, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Books like this becoming vital in the slow work of getting to know the country I've been living in for 16 years.
Most of NL history I've picked up in scraps or projected from what I know from the UK.
(continued in comments)
Most of NL history I've picked up in scraps or projected from what I know from the UK.
(continued in comments)
Analysis of the problem is sharp ('The loudest megaphone') in today's Guardian. Solutions less so.
That's because the solutions are offline and human: slow down, detune, go deep into community around.
Acts that undermine both 🍊ism and the modern news cycle.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ja...
That's because the solutions are offline and human: slow down, detune, go deep into community around.
Acts that undermine both 🍊ism and the modern news cycle.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ja...
January 28, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Analysis of the problem is sharp ('The loudest megaphone') in today's Guardian. Solutions less so.
That's because the solutions are offline and human: slow down, detune, go deep into community around.
Acts that undermine both 🍊ism and the modern news cycle.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ja...
That's because the solutions are offline and human: slow down, detune, go deep into community around.
Acts that undermine both 🍊ism and the modern news cycle.
www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ja...
Today Parastoo Ahmadi of Iran announced she would give a concert without a hijab. The public disclosure and lack of head scarf puts her in very real danger. Yet hear her sing, and see comments of what this means to Iranians.
Spine-tingling courage.
youtu.be/oYcaDHEnhbU?...
Spine-tingling courage.
youtu.be/oYcaDHEnhbU?...
کنسرت کاروانسرا با صدای پرستو احمدی
YouTube video by Parastoo Ahmadi
youtu.be
December 12, 2024 at 7:05 PM
Today Parastoo Ahmadi of Iran announced she would give a concert without a hijab. The public disclosure and lack of head scarf puts her in very real danger. Yet hear her sing, and see comments of what this means to Iranians.
Spine-tingling courage.
youtu.be/oYcaDHEnhbU?...
Spine-tingling courage.
youtu.be/oYcaDHEnhbU?...
Local treasures...a thousand stories, wonder tales and anecdotes collected between 1962 and 1978, about a 15km radius around where I live. Keys to the life lived underfoot, far out of usual reach of the expat or social feed.
#storytelling
#goingloco(al)
#folkstory
#storytelling
#baarn
#eemland
#storytelling
#goingloco(al)
#folkstory
#storytelling
#baarn
#eemland
November 27, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Local treasures...a thousand stories, wonder tales and anecdotes collected between 1962 and 1978, about a 15km radius around where I live. Keys to the life lived underfoot, far out of usual reach of the expat or social feed.
#storytelling
#goingloco(al)
#folkstory
#storytelling
#baarn
#eemland
#storytelling
#goingloco(al)
#folkstory
#storytelling
#baarn
#eemland
What’s common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
The origins of the most plain, simple folk tale are usually around 76,000 years old. That's why the same story ends up in South Africa and Wales, they share the same origin.
The origins of the most plain, simple folk tale are usually around 76,000 years old. That's why the same story ends up in South Africa and Wales, they share the same origin.
What’s common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
Most wasps don’t make nests and don’t sting. The vast majority—over 100,000 species!—are so minuscule you never notice them, but they’re *everywhere* around you every time you step outside—and they’re critical for ecosystem health!
Most wasps don’t make nests and don’t sting. The vast majority—over 100,000 species!—are so minuscule you never notice them, but they’re *everywhere* around you every time you step outside—and they’re critical for ecosystem health!
What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
Food systems are the #2 contributor to climate change, the #1 driver of deforestation, the #1 driver of biodiversity loss on land, and the #1 user of freshwater.
(It follows that food systems contain many solutions to these problems.)
Food systems are the #2 contributor to climate change, the #1 driver of deforestation, the #1 driver of biodiversity loss on land, and the #1 user of freshwater.
(It follows that food systems contain many solutions to these problems.)
November 15, 2024 at 5:39 PM
What’s common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders?
The origins of the most plain, simple folk tale are usually around 76,000 years old. That's why the same story ends up in South Africa and Wales, they share the same origin.
The origins of the most plain, simple folk tale are usually around 76,000 years old. That's why the same story ends up in South Africa and Wales, they share the same origin.
By way of introduction, I've written about a very timely weekend of storytelling and land-listening I co-ran last weekend.
#story
#landscape
#local
#netherlands
#myth
#songbelowthesoil
#goldbeneaththefeet
#story
#landscape
#local
#netherlands
#myth
#songbelowthesoil
#goldbeneaththefeet
After a ritual and storytelling weekend
It was pretty good timing to have planned a year ago a weekend on the land. It shook world events out of my imagination and body. Some reflections on how it went.
lindenbower.substack.com
November 15, 2024 at 10:51 AM
By way of introduction, I've written about a very timely weekend of storytelling and land-listening I co-ran last weekend.
#story
#landscape
#local
#netherlands
#myth
#songbelowthesoil
#goldbeneaththefeet
#story
#landscape
#local
#netherlands
#myth
#songbelowthesoil
#goldbeneaththefeet