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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/
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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...

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

Sunrise breakfast on the polder. Happy Easter everyone 🐣💓🌅 #Poldernews #Belonging #Baarn #Lifeontheapex

submitted 59 days ago • 0 comments

Please read this and share it www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

"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...

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

Boycotting the grocery store until they start buying an equivalent volume of groceries from me

submitted 72 days ago • 552 comments

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

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

My (last and only) fruitful interaction with Meta AI #metaai #gonetosignal

submitted 75 days ago • 0 comments

"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

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

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

submitted 84 days ago • 5 comments

Such an incredibly moving read from John Harris writing about his son, who has autism, and their shared love of music.

submitted 95 days ago • 1 comment

Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath + study notes lindenbower.substack.com/p/winter-tre... #poetry #womenspoetry #trees #treepoetry #studynotes 📷Gleb Lucky on Unsplash

submitted 98 days ago • 0 comments

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

submitted 99 days ago • 0 comments

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

submitted 124 days ago • 0 comments

Hanging out at the beech #baarnsebos #Netherlands #trees

submitted 125 days ago • 0 comments

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)

submitted 138 days ago • 1 comment

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...

submitted 141 days ago • 1 comment

@gailhoward.bsky.social hieeee

submitted 142 days ago • 1 comment

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?...

submitted 188 days ago • 1 comment

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

submitted 203 days ago • 0 comments

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.

submitted 215 days ago • 0 comments

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

submitted 215 days ago • 1 comment