Happy birthday little blog!
This week my blog turns 1 year old. For the last 52 weeks I have posted something that I have written and sent it out into the strange, empty-feeling void of the internet where, I hope, some people have found it. I have managed to do this every single week (except for the time I had unbelievably bad food poisoning and so gave myself a pass) and that in itself is a massive achievement for me.
I am someone who is motivated most easily by external things – mostly doing things for others and feeling responsible to them. I am challenged when it comes to doing things where I have to be internally motivated, things for myself. This blog, although it has some outward facing elements, at its heart is a selfish endeavour. I write for me. I write because I need to – it helps me sort out things in my head – and because I want to. I want to get better at it, I want to write things that connect with people, I want to share things I find out. In that respect, because it is mainly for me, I’m not sure I expected that I would stick with it. I honestly thought it would end up like many of those other failed one-a-day-sketches/photographs/journal writing type exercises that I have started over the years. That I am still here, a year later, making the time to write each week and get it out, is something I feel rather proud of.
Books to inspire: The Art of Possibility
I love this book. It is one of the few books I know I would be very upset if I lost. It regularly makes the journey down from my bookshelf onto my desk or bedside table and I never tire of rereading passages. In some ways I feel the book houses the kind of optimism that I wish I had in greater measure. Not a Pollyanna, life is great (even when it’s not) kind of outlook, but a sense that we can affect so much in our lives if we just realised it. That the world is a place full of opportunity and possibility and we are active participants within that. It’s something I know to be true, but sometimes find hard to remember.
The authors of this book – Rosamund and Benjamin Zander – are a couple who work in very different fields. She is a family therapist and a painter, he is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a teacher of music students. Together they bring insights from their spheres of activity; their stories and examples are inspiring and motivating.
The ‘no plan’ plan and why it might be the best way to achieve your creative goals
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner. I have always got a million lists on the go, I am always thinking ‘what’s next?’ and daydreaming about things that are yet to happen. On a micro scale I have a tendency to fret over tiny details and have even been known to plan out my day to the nearest quarter of an hour. I love sitting down and planning my week, my month or even the next three months…
But, I am not a planner on a macro scale. I have never had ‘a plan’ about what I’m doing or where I’m going beyond the next year. I have always just followed my nose into interesting situations and my passions into new adventures.