Just Let Your Soul Grow (JLYSG) is an inclusive community space for people of all ages. Set up in 2016, this CIC operates not-for-profit, with funds reinvested back into the garden. As well as being a space to learn about gardening and growing food they host music, yoga, after-school clubs and opportunities for volunteers to experience dirt and fire. Jennie Morris, the green thumbs behind this initiative, shares her mixtape with Gan On.
‘The Boy With the Arab Strap’ – Belle and Sebastian
I liken the feeling of this song to the feeling of childlike abandon, which brings me too much joy. It reminds me of the way that I used to feel when I was a kid, when I was wild and out in nature, which is a feeling I’ve clung to, and tried to recreate in the garden.
‘Revolutionary Minds’ – Benjamin Zephaniah
For more than half my life I’ve been in charge of three young people who don’t like taking any form of advice from their mam. This song has an important message: not everything has to be as it is, and we don’t have to listen to everything we are fed by the media. I feel proud when I hear one of the kids repeat a line like “revolutionary minds don’t give a damn”.
‘The Breaks’ – Kurtis Blow
A gentle reminder that it’s important to have and enforce boundaries. You can be a good person and still tell people to f— right off. Sometimes it’s necessary. Boundaries are healthy.
‘Northern Sky’ – Nick Drake
Whilst I hate those icebreaker questions, “If you could pick five people to have a dinner party with, who would you pick?” Nick Drake would absolutely be on my list. And Northern Sky, with me being a Northern lass, gives me a lovely sense of place and belonging in the world.
‘Little Lamb Dragonfly’ – Wings
I can’t listen to this song without getting goosebumps. The lyrics remind me of a memory I have of being a child on holiday somewhere and seeing a dragonfly for the first time. I just thought WHAT ON EARTH! If that isn’t pure magic? Pay attention to the small things and allow them to overwhelm you with gratitude and wonder. This experience informed the direction my life has taken as a caretaker of the natural world.
