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ABOUT
“Let us say what we feel, and feel what we say; let speech harmonize with life.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic Philosopher (c.4BC – AD65).
Ephemeral Dawn is a vessel for the Wandering Old Souls; the curious, the creative, and the adventurous; paying homage to exploration in every sense: history, the world, ideas, nature, and the self.
Through it, I hope to revive the wisdom and beauty of the past to soothe the wounds left by meaninglessness in modernity. Perhaps you, too, feel cast loose, or are waiting for the right time to cut and run from a life of mediocrity and despondence. Maybe you are just eager for an adventure, or perhaps you’re just glad to see a friendly sail on the horizon – whatever it may be, there is a berth for you on this ship.
Join me, Dear Wanderer. Let’s have the courage to lose sight of the shoreline, and for the first time gaze up into the heavens through a clear sky.
“I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man’s. I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.” – William Blake, English Poet and Painter (1757 – 1827).
The Good Ship Ephemeral Dawn
Initially the name of a ship in a story I first conceived at secondary school, Ephemeral Dawn as you know her was truly born towards the end of my time at university. I didn’t know at the time, but I was soon to graduate with First Class Honours in Law, and yet in this moment I felt utterly hopeless. After years of education, I questioned – now more than ever – my capacity to make any meaningful contribution to this world. I could find nothing that ignited my soul, and each time I was asked “so, what will you do now?” I felt more and more hopeless by my inability to give any answer. The weight of “what comes next” was heavy, for something that seemed so empty.
I had worked minimum-wage jobs before university under the thumb of unpleasant managers, and hated it. My strongest desire was never to have to submit myself to that again; to do something meaningful and fulfilling, and not fade out a nameless cog in a soulless system. I wanted to build my own dreams – a vessel of purpose, exploration, and growth; to find some way of making a living that didn’t strike me full with dread, dejection, and despondence.
A Leap of Faith
This is how Ephemeral Dawn was born – a ship laid down in a dockyard of near-despair, seasoned by a hopeful sun, optimistically destined for some lost utopia not yet charted on maps of the known world. Perhaps I’ll discover new horizons, or perhaps the fears of those early seafarers will come true and I will fall off the edge of the world, plummeting into a nameless abyss to be lost to time. But I would have tried and there is beauty in that. Like every tree that is struck by lightning; every flower trampled; every warrior slain; to fall, they all had to stand, and to stand was to defy darkness and defeat for so long as they could. In that beautiful act of defiance, they left us something that lasted far beyond themselves. Something eternal; the seed of the oak from which this beautiful ship, Ephemeral Dawn, is built. Hope.
Ephemeral Dawn is my act of defiance. A quiet refusal to die out having left nothing behind; a soulful yearning for a life well-lived, that it may be a testament to hope, growth, and the fleeting possibility of something everlasting.
So It Begins
To you all – Seafarer, Wanderer, and Adventurer alike,
Fair winds and a following sea,
Ephemeral Dawn.
“I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and impossible.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, German Philosopher and Critic (1844 – 1900).
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“The life given us, by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.” – Cicero, Roman Statesman and Lawyer (106BC – 43BC).
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“The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings.” – Henri Frédéric Amiel, Swiss Philosopher and Critic (1821 – 1881).
FAQ - Personal
Hello! I’ve tried to assemble below some likely questions (I don’t have an audience at the time of writing this to ask, haha)! If you have any more, feel free to contact me and I might add them here! I am a very private person by nature, though, so please respect that. I’m not going to want to answer anything too revealing. 🙂
What are your favourite eras of History?
- The Napoleonic Wars
- The Golden Age of Piracy
- The American Civil War
- The American Wild West
- The Age of Sail generally (and especially to do with the British Royal Navy)
- Medieval Britain
What other interests do you have?
I have quite a few interests that perhaps deviate from the blog, but yet are tangentially related, too. The themes of adventure and freedom are probably evident in them all at some level, like vanlife, overlanding, tiny homes, self-sufficiency, and home rennovation.
I also like other creative outlets like photography, videography, writing of course, and digital design though I don’t claim to be any good at that.
I have a variety of academic interests, too. From law, my chosen subject at both college and university, to philosophy, history (as if that one wasn’t already obvious, haha), and English. I’m generally drawn to the humanities as a whole and find it really difficult to engage with subjects that are highly mathematical or that, at least on the surface, seem disconnected from human experience. I’ve always struggled with science, computing, and especially maths which I hated (and still do). What captivates me most is the exploration of ethics, emotion, meaning, and metaphor – areas where ideas feel alive and deeply connected to the way we understand ourselves and the world.
Oh, and I really love quotes. 🙂
Who are your favourite fictional characters and briefly why?
This is a list that could easily get too long for this box, so I’ll include just a few for now with a brief explanation. There are sooo many!
- Jaime Sommers (Bionic Woman) – a beautiful, kind, empathetic, loyal, and resillient character. An agent for the fictional OSI, she’s the ‘hero’ of the series but yet so grounded and human. I loved her as a child and still love her as an adult.
- Captain James McGraw/Flint (Black Sails) –
- Little Dorrit (BBC, Little Dorrit) –
- Horatio Hornblower (ITV, Hornblower) –
- Major Richard Sharpe (Sharpe) –
- Count Pierre Bezukhov (BBC, War and Peace)
- Tom and Barbara Good (The Good Life) –
- Orry Maine and George Hazard (North and South) –
- John Walton (The Waltons) – A hard working, loving, loyal, strong, kind, and fair man – he has always been one of the best depictions of what a father, and a man, should be to me.
- Jack Rackham (as seen in Black Sails) –
Who are your favourite characters from history and briefly why?
This is also a list that could far exceed this box, so for now I will list just a few, with a brief explanation.
- Napoleon Bonaparte – truly one of the most impressive lives in human history; a political and military mastermind who, even despite his legendary ability, was still very much a human, gripped and flawed by human problems. He waged wars that brought Empires to their knees, and yet wept beside dying friends; he raged – sometimes unfairly – at others’ mistakes, yet he rewarded merit generously. There is so much to be said that won’t fit here. A flawed, but incredible man.
- Horatio Nelson – Perhaps my personal foremost British hero, I love Nelson. Also flawed, also a man with unmatched skill and competence, heroism and devotion to duty. There may never have been a truer patriot to this dear country. One of the finest seafaring commanders the world has ever seen.
- William Garrow – a legendary English barrister who championed the right to a defence; he revolutionised English criminal law and his contributions were largely forgotten over time. An inspiration to me in my legal education: a brilliant advocate, passionate and cutting, and deeply humane. He is one of a small but potent elite of his time who fought for a better world, and a man whose name should be more widely known. I was proud to be able to mention him in my Dissertation. Fiat Justicia Ruat Caelum. Part of his life was dramatised in one of my favourite TV Series, Garrow’s Law.
- Alan Watts – Forever my favourite philosopher. He gave the purest voice to so many of those innermost thoughts and feelings that stung at my heart but could not leave my tongue, and who for me most powerfully intertwined philosophy with good living again, detaching it from cold and rigid academia. His words were those that helped soothe the aching heart of this sad teenager who struggled so much to feel purpose in life, who felt so disillusioned with everything and didn’t know why, and who felt so deeply ashamed whenever trying to explore these ideas only to the reception of confused looks and robotic apathy. Thank you, Alan Watts, for bringing philosophy out of the classroom and putting it back in people’s hearts, where it belongs.
What are your favourite films, books, and TV Series?
I would paralyse myself with indecision if I ranked these in order, so in no particular order:
Films:
- Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
- Narnia: Prince Caspian
- Master and Commander: Far Side of the World
- Dances with Wolves
- Open Range
- Tombstone
- True Grit (both; a rare example of the remake being as good as the original)
- The Duellists (the last Riddley Scott film I liked)
- Lincoln
- Macebth (2015 – Michael Faasbender & Marion Cotillard)
- The Chorus
- Pride and Prejudice (2003)
- Crocodile Dundee (all)
- Beverly Hills Cop (all)
- Ice Age (1, 2, and 3)
- Goodnight Mister Tom
- David Brent: Life on the Road
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Books (Incl. Novellas, Diaries, Letters, and Plays):
I elected to exclude strictly non-fiction books here.
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- The Tempest by William Shakespeare
- An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer (Series)
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
Poems:
- To A Poet A Thousand Years Hence
- Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen
- Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
- Life Be Kind! by Charles Oluf Olsen
TV Series:
- Hornblower
- Sharpe
- War and Peace (BBC 2016)
- Garrow’s Law
- Black Sails
- Little Dorrit (2008)
- Normal People
- Looking for Alaska
- Cardinal
- Upstart Crow
- Detectorists
- North and South (1985)
- The Good Life (1975)
- The Foryste Saga (2006, Damian Lewis and Gina McKee)
- The Bionic Woman
- Deadwood
- Hatfields & McCoys
- 1864
- An Idiot Abroad (1&2) + The Moaning of Life
- Monk
- Fawlty Towers
- Blackadder
- Open All Hours
- ‘Allo ‘Allo
- Yes, Minster + Yes, Prime Minister
- The Office (UK)
What are some interesting facts/trivia about you?
- For those who are interested in this: My Astrology sign is Aquarius and my MBTI is INFP-T.
- As a child, I was an avid reader. My favourite childhood author was Roald Dahl. My favourite teenage author was L. A. Meyer, with his “Bloody” Jacky Faber stories.
- As I write this, I have never seen Game of Thrones (January 19th, 2025). I saw Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings for the first time in Summer 2024. All the people I’ve met who seem most put out by this have never seen Sharpe or Hornblower, so I’d say we’re even.
- I collect books. Pretty ones. Lots of them. My bank account doesn’t enjoy this hobby at all, but I might be keeping eBay financially afloat.
- I got fined once on the way to College for not having a train ticket. I was held up quite badly, and entered my law class (the irony is not lost on me) mid way through, explaining I was “sorry for the delay, I just got fined.” I won the money back on appeal over a technicality, as the form had not properly been filled out. To date that remains my proudest “lawyer” achievement.
- My favourite dog breed is forever German Shepherd; my favourite cat, Maine Coon.
- I have only ever been abroad once. Not for lack of interest – we just don’t have the means. It was in 2019 to Rhodes, Greece (where several of the banner/hero images on this blog were taken) and it’s one of the best memeories of my life.
- I only wish that I could prove this, but I cannot as the platform is long-since dead. However, back in the days of Google+, I followed Tim McGraw, who in turn followed me back!
- My first ever ‘proper’ live music concert (I’ve been to plenty of pub-singer-y venues or live, but not well-known singers at events for entertainment) was in 2024, Birmingham, England. Here before he rightfully blows up as one of Country’s best up and coming artists, I went to see Stephen Wilson Jr.
Is Avery your real name?
It is not, no. It’s an alias/pen name I will write and work under (where I am not “Ephemeral Dawn”) for at least the time being. I am a deeply private individual and hate the exposure that attends fame and celebrity. I am not made for a public life like that. This might make blogging seem an interesting choice, but I thought it was the best – perhaps even the only way – for me to give what little I can offer to the world, and I wanted to just try, so here I am anyway!
What is your taste in music?
I resoundingly agree with Nietzsche that “without music, life would be a mistake” and have over the last few years spent an average of 74,425 minutes per year listening to music on Spotify, equating to almost 52 days.
I was raised on Country music through my dad’s influence (Mum’s punk/thrash music never quite doing it for me, preferring the acoustic sound and gentle melodies of country). As I grew up I explored my own stuff, naturally, and settled very comfortably into epic orchestral for a few years, and then to where I have been ever since: indie acoustic/indie folk. If you know the YouTube channels Aperion, IndieVibes, Devoved, AlexrainbirdMusic, or M O S T L Y strings – that sort of music.
I still love and actively listen to lots of country, epic orchestral, and indie music, of course.
Giving a concise or representitive overview of my tastes is just going to be impossible, but to try and give something:
Favourite Artist (Deceased): Johnny Cash forever <3
What are your favourite games?
That is a difficult choice but if I had to pick one it is probably going to be The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. No game has ever filled me with the same sort of wanderlust, while giving me the same sort of freedom to design my own character, in a world with such lore, and replayablity. I loved exploring its world, and modding it to Oblivion (ha, punny) too!
But it really is hard to pick and honourable mentions, in no particular order, also go to:
- Total War: NAPOLEON – for obvious reasons.
- Total War: EMPIRE – for the same obvious reasons.
- Planet Zoo – I love the animals and creative freedom to build habitats for them.
- Hunt: Showdown 1986 – The only shooter game I really like; the atmosphere is amazing and the punishing difficulty make those few successes so much more satisfying.
- The Sims 4 – It’s just so cosy, and I love designing characters and buildings.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 – the story, the characters, the world… what a masterpiece of a game. Online was such a missed opportunity, Rockstar.
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm – my favourite story of teenage friendship/romance story in a game, set against the backdrop of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – the first game ever to nearly move me to tears through the beauty of its environments alone. I loved the story and the characters so much too, but exploring the locations in this game – Especially Libertalia, the lost pirate settlement – spoke to some deep wanderlust in me.
- Uncharted Lost Legacy – the same, but set in India.
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – best RPG ever?
- Age of Wonders 4 – a fantasy strategy game where you get to design your own character and faction? Yes please!
I really do believe that games done well are just as impactful and important as traditional art and literature, and that “gamer” shouldn’t carry the stigma of being a lesser interest than, for example, literature.
What are some of your favourite pages/creators online?
This could be a loooong list. I might turn it into a blog post one day instead. But for now I will mention the following:
- Geowizard – an adventure channel I love with great narration and really fun videos, especially in Britain and his “How Not to Travel Europe” series. He really captures the spontenaity, beauty, tranquility, and challenge of adventure.
- Epic History – Epic history documentaries frequently about the Napoleonic Wars. Such insane production value, I love this channel. Nowhere else do I feel that my passion for history is shared by anyone as much as I do here.
- Natalie Lynn – A masterful filmmaker and storyteller, Natalie Lynn’s ‘Borderless’ has called to my heart in a way no series on YouTube ever has. Words can’t do justice to how beautiful this channel is. It’s so intimate and personal, it’s like reading someone’s diary.
- Living Big in a Tiny House – What I love about this channel is how there can be adventure in settling down, too. This channel is so passionate about tiny homes and there’s such creativity shown to us through it, as we see these beautiful, personal spaces people make for themselves in their lives.
- Modern History TV – A calm conversation with a presenter who feels like an old friend; a humble, interesting, and relaxing exploration of history with a focus on Medieval Britain.
- Lindybeige – An ecclectic channel, in his own words. Lindy does videos on everything from history to swing dance, but it’s his Britishness, enthusiasm, unique personality, humour, and presentation ability that keeps me hooked. I met Lindy VERY briefly at Tewkesbury in 2022, and he’s the only YouTuber who has stood before a camera for over an hour, with no cuts, to make a video I watched all through: The White Headhunter.
- True Blue Travellers – An extremely talented couple who travel the world in self-made overlanding conversions, from a Defender 110 to a Sainsbuy’s Van to a Pinzgauer; a lovely balance of opennes, talent, advice, comedy, and adventure – essential viewing for the overlanding/vanlife community.
FAQ - Website
Substantively, what do you really plan to do with this blog?
My mission is perhaps not as focused as some other blogs – I have struggled a lot to follow the convention of “niche down” since I have so many interests and dreams, and I want this to be a home for all of them. If it can’t be, nowhere can.
I think while I ‘find my niche’ (if I ever do) I’ll write about quite literally whatever is on my mind. Tones will vary (and I’ll try to organise posts accordingly) through musings, creative, diary and academic-style writing. History will prevail over the vast majority of it, as virtually all of my interests are linked to that subject in some way.
When I think it is good enough, and I’m confident enough to share it, I’d also like to post some of my creative works here too, and by so doing perhaps take some small step to realising the dream of being a writer.
I’d rather like to provide something of value in the way that it solves a problem, too. In the short term I think this might take the form of study guides or notes for various topics I know a lot about: some legal, some literary, and some historical, that might be of use to students paticularly, but broadly anyone else who might be interested.
And lastly, there’s a thought that I might also see if I can sell photography or custom merchandise themed around the blog, but these at present are more remote ideas.
What are you doing with the website design?
In a word? Struggling. Seriously, nobody I have shown this to said it looked bad (sympathy or sincerity, I wonder?) but the design of Ephemeral Dawn has been an obsession for me. I want it to look just perfect but at the moment it relies too much on black, I think.
It does on the one hand feel a bit dreamy or unconscious, where you can see bits of light and clarity though blurry/sleepy eyes, and I like that, but I’d also wanted to make something lighter, and more rustic-looking. The issue was I hate seeing the seams where two sections meet (a solid horizontal line) so I masked them with fade to black (where the quotes usually appear), as black has the illusion of making the image colours look stronger. Fading to white, or off-white, always washed them out, and I hated that too.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the website’s design – contact me and let me know! 🙂
P.S. I hate having to design for phones, too. Oh, sure, they’re convenient to use – I used mine a lot too – but the small vertical screens seriously limit the freedom to design that a computer has. It’s a much smaller canvas, and because of the way it is used (and its limited power) it virtually necessitates a very utilitarian approach to design. Grrr! I had to vent that somewhere, haha!
Why a ship metaphor?
Well, it was a natural fit since I love ships and metaphors. I think ships – sailing ships specifically, and square rigged sailing ships even more specifically – are stunning. They have such gravitas, and yet such majesty. The lines of the masts and yards, the curves of the hull, the ornate decoration astern and at the bow, the uniformity of the gunports, and so on. They are so powerful, and yet elegant; so tough and yet delicate, and so built for adventure, but always attached to their home, to which they always ultimately try and return.
And I love metaphors for their power to tell a story, so it was just perfect. Ships make me think of hope, elegance, adventure and prowess. Paired with the romance of the sea, there could be no more fitting or beautiful metahor for what I want to convey with this website.
What ship is used on the photographs in your website?
The background behind the text you’re reading now is Admiral George Anson’s Centurion as seen on the blinds – would you believe it – in The Ship Anson, a pub in Portsmouth right outside the Historic Dockyard. I took this photo there on my visit to see H.M.S. Victory.
I have also been to Anson’s estate – Shugborough Hall, in Staffordshire, England.
The ship you see in the rest of the website’s hero/banner pictures (in that warm, sunny place) is the Queen Christine. The photos were taken abaord her in Rhodes, Greece – boarded at Mandraki Harbour in the summer of 2019. She’s not really a ship in the true sense of the word; she has only two masts and moves with an engine, not under sail, but it was nevertheless a beautiful experience I shall cherish. And the photos look the part for the website!
Variously you will also see H.M.S Victory and H.M.S. Warrior around too, probably. The more ships, the better! I love them!
Can I contact you?
Of course! Use the contact form on my contact page and I will get back to you as soon as I can!
Special Thanks:
I built this website by myself, starting with absolutely no knowledge about WordPress, or any of the other tools I’d need to do this. While I am proud of what I managed to create, I could not have done it without the tutorials and inspiration of a few different creators. To all of the following, equally and in no particular order, I am very grateful:
Technical Help/Tutorials:
- Web Squadron, YouTube
- WPTuts, YouTube
- Rino de Boer, YouTube
- Andrea Egli, YouTube
- Make Dream Website, YouTube
- Jim Fahad Digital, YouTube
- WP Roads, YouTube
- Jeffrey @ Lytbox, YouTube
- WP Maker, YouTube
Design Inspiration:
- The Blonde Abroad
- Salt in our Hair
“Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.” – Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France (1769 – 1861).