Yesterday I wrote of my deep appreciation for the work of walking artist Richard Long. His A Walk Across England is one of the only two books I have out of shelving, the more likely to dip into…

I have come to understand his work’s meaning to me: it is the act of moving out into the world in the only way every individual can, in their power. By putting one foot in front of the other, without permission, under one’s own volition, there is a unique kind of empowerment.

By then recording that movement, that voice, that action, Long is offering it to others to emulate and to examine for themselves.

I spend a lot of my time considering change, and it always starts from my own process. It always start from the behaviour of one person and the offer to another. This is the person-to-person economy. From the interaction of individuals and the impact of network effect, mass change can result.

I just watched the most excellent Parliamentary maiden speech by the SNP MP Mhairi Black, aged just 20. In it, she spoke of the difference between weathervanes and signposts (after Tony Benn).

The former moves with the direction of the wind; the latter holds true, strong, always. Long walked across England in a straight line, according to signposts. His proclamation: Going the right way.

This is how change happens, with individual commitment and an invitation to come along for the ramble.

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