> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 📍Loci: Feeling Out of Sorts - Mental Health and our Heritage. - URL: https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/loci-11-mental-health-and-heritage/ - Published: 2026-01-15T10:35:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-22T17:12:49.000Z - Description: My way out of this kind of anxiety is to ground myself in the buildings around me - to stop and take in the differences, look upwards, look beyond. Others do the same - in their gardens, out in nature, with their hobbies. - Author: Andy Marshall - Tags: loci, material culture, microcosm, beauty in the detail, anxiety, mental health, wellbeing, wellbeing and heritage *Each week I send out a short, fresh reflection from the road – photographs, sketches, and observations from old places that still have something to teach us. What follows is a moment from that ongoing journey.* --- ****OBSERVATIONS** ## Out of sorts. **I head down the country via a circuitous route towards Portsmouth. I have a photo shoot at a medical facility in the city centre.** I get a bit caught up in myself every now and again - become a bit too obsessive. I worry enormously about maintaining standards and obsessing about detail. Like many creatives - it comes from a low self-esteem, a kind of imposter syndrome. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_4121.JPG) I feel grounded by places like this My way out of this kind of anxiety is to ground myself in the buildings around me - to stop and take in the differences, look upwards, look beyond. Others do the same - in their gardens, out in nature, with their hobbies. It doesn't come naturally to me but, over the years, through my vocation as a photographer, I've developed a sense of playful curiosity. Curiosity is infectious and connective. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/Worcester-147-copy.jpg) Look upwards and beyond... --- 💡 If you’re drawn to places where time gathers rather than passes – places of refuge, care, and continuity – I post out fresh observations like this every week. [Subscribe for free here](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/) --- If you find yourself in a place and feel out of sorts - be curious. Look for the story of the place. Look at the materials being used in the buildings - why flint and not stone? Why are all the houses in this village made of timber? Why all the buildings in this town have a curvy pantile? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/416599521_aa65d1f68c.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_4226.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_6381.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_7604.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_7841.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_8369.JPG) Then look at the styles. Why, for example, is Bath so classical and York so Gothic? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_7933.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_2466.JPG) Then try and seek out details - what is the embossed lead plaque on the brick wall? Why is the glass in the sash window full of imperfections? Beyond that look at the patterns, and beyond that, at how nature has co-existed with our buildings - the Buddleia behind the chimney or the lichen on the wall. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_8849.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_8850.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_8852.jpeg) I love drilling down from a complex construct of the past (such as a cathedral) to the patina on its walls which holds more complexity than the building itself. A universe in the particular. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/2023/06/IMG_0335.jpeg) --- More on Mental Health and our Heritage: [mental health - Andy Marshall’s Genius Loci DigestArchitecture, photography and its relationship to mental health and wellbeing from my own perspective.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/icon/Andy-242.png)Andy Marshall's Genius Loci DigestAndy Marshall![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/2e/b6/2eb6d776-18dd-41f1-a2d1-b76fa2d605be/content/images/thumbnail/EH-Ironbridge-Feb-2019-22.jpg)](https://www.digest.andymarshall.co/tag/mental-health/) --- Andy Marshall’s Genius Loci Digest Email address Join the weekly journey – it’s free ↗ Joining… Free. Every Friday. Unsubscribe anytime. Nearly there. Check your inbox to complete your subscription. The weekly Genius Loci Digest ## Come with me. See Britain differently. 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