Quitting my newsletter update: why that was a good thing and also not. (Alternative title – new email list!)
Six months ago, at the spring equinox, I closed down my email newsletter. It was a decision I’d been thinking about for a while and felt aligned with where I was personally (against the backdrop of ongoing polycrises) and professionally (within the wider context of figuring out my role outside of my craft work). It […]
Staying tender-hearted in these times
I have written this post multiple times, trying to find a way to start. How I wish we were having a real conversation, where the failure of words, the imperfect beginning is not so visible. We’d quickly have stumbled through some sentences that try to convey the enormity of our feelings and experiences of living […]
Happy Birthday little blog & book revival
This month marks my blog’s 4th birthday! When I began writing it I included a monthly book recommendation, something I’d been reading on the theme of creativity, personal development, that sort of thing. Somewhere along the line I stopped doing it, despite those posts beings some of the most popular, and despite people still asking […]
Reflect to reconnect
In my last post I shared the process I go through each new year, as I assess how the previous year has gone and prepare for the new one ahead. It’s only recently that I realised that it has 3 distinct phases – reflection, review & planning. For a long time I only did the […]
Navigating separation and connection
Along with the intention this month to write on the blog more frequently, I’ve also been trying to listen to more podcasts. For some reason this is something I find hard to do. There’s something about the format that doesn’t quite work for me. I appreciate the immediacy, the connection of hearing other people’s voices, […]
What does kindness mean to you?
First I must thank Instagram for, yet again, providing me with a starting point for today’s daily blog. I had a busy work day yesterday so didn’t get round to writing, and it’s amazing how quickly the inertia sets in. I was ready to write off today as well, but then I noticed quite a […]
Be the champion of others
Image: Yeshen Venema Photography This morning I saw an Instagram post from The Female Lead that said “Surround yourself with women who would mention your name in a room full of opportunities” It’s posts like these that make me wish Insta would upgrade the Like option to accommodate the ‘hell yeah’ and ‘this is everything’ […]
Spark Summer School Week 4 – Connect with Others
Hello! Welcome to the last week of the #sparksummerschool. This week we are going to be spending time Connecting with Others. Last week we explored the world outside us, finding sources of wonder in our surroundings, paying attention to the ordinary and extraordinary in our urban or rural everyday lives. Hopefully you noticed what sorts […]
The impulse to give
A couple of weeks ago I talked about the impulse to save things and the damaging effect this can have when it comes to saving ideas or holding back in your creative practice.
In writing that post I realised that there is another impulse, closely linked to the impulse to save and to hold in, and that’s the impulse to give. Much in the same way that we might censor ourselves by not acting on the desire to create something, we can also hold ourselves back by not giving enough outwards. It feels like the saving and the giving are two sides of the same coin. That when the natural rhythm of the year comes back towards winter and we instinctively begin to gather inwards, to hibernate, that’s also when we can tend to shut ourselves off from other people.
3 elements of your Creative Practice: community
This month on the blog I’m talking about a structure for thinking about your creative practice which I have borrowed from the DIY MFA writing programme and made applicable for most creative practices:
Output (Creative Work) + Input (Nourish Creativity & Skills) + Community Building = Creative Practice
In the last post I looked at Output – your artistic work, the things you create and produce. This week I’m looking at Community Building.