'Bears to Wear' are all handmade by Pauline Walker who lives in our community and they are an amazing expression of creativity. I just love them! I believe I have the biggest collection and still growing, as the creativity never stops. At my latest count there were 77.

I bought my first bear during my Experience Week in May 1990. My work department during the week was Cluny Garden where I found on the greenhouse shelves a collection of plastic animals which in my humble opinion was totally ridiculous. I felt there should be living plants on the shelves. When later it was explained to me that these plastic animals were there to remind the gardeners of the unseen beings that they couldn't see with their eyes, I thought: "What a brilliant idea," and that's what my bears are for me. They remind me of the unseen world, the unseen beings.

In September 1992 I joined the Community Apprenticeship Programme and Cluny has been my home ever since. In 1995 a small group of community members went to celebrate a birthday on the Isle of Skye where we stayed in a retreat house, Quiraing Lodge. By that time my family of bears had grown to five and as we were about to leave I went into the kitchen to say goodbye to Kate, the owner, wearing one of my bears. She asked me what the bear's name was and was surprised to hear that it didn't have a name. I asked what she thought the name should be and she immediately answered, "She looks like Irmingtrude!" Shortly after that Irmingtrude was baptised in the kitchen sink, and of course when I came home the rest of the family also needed names.

Each one of them has its own character and personality. I have been given a lot of bears. Some have come with a name, but most of them I have named myself. They live in a chest of drawers on a piece of felt and I usually attune to which one comes out each day, and the attunement of course depends on how I feel as well. Some of the bears are quite outrageous, so they don't come out on days when I am feeling more inward or withdrawn.

Wearing a bear has brought me to talk to people I've never met before and connected me to some wonderful people. My feeling is that people think, "If he's wearing a bear like this, he can't be too serious!" But I also notice some people turning away and I feel that for them life must be serious business. Quite a few people smile and I return their smile. It's great, life is great and it's a privilege to be on this planet.

Niels