‘James Talks’ Bonus Episode – ‘The First Word’
Hey friends, welcome back to the blog. I hope you’ve been enjoying my new podcast, James Talks. The first episode, ‘You Are Not Alone’, went out on Monday and I’ve been so encouraged by the response so far – thank you.
And today, as a special bonus, there’s another new episode – ‘The First Word’, which is live now!
Today I talk about what I believe the most important word, the word where our lives should all begin – and end.
Grace.
I talk about how grace
A New Season: A New Podcast – James Talks
Welcome back to the blog. I’ve been away a while, but now I’ve returned – and I’ve some great new work & new opportunities to share with you.
I’ve always thought creativity is like life, and that’s because we’re all designed to create. Not just artists, but all of us. And not just in our work, but our lives too.
We’re designed to create a life.
And as life moves in seasons, so does our creative work. It moves organically, naturally into different stages, where it becomes natural to move to new challenges, projects and mediums.
For me, this means that today I’m launching a podcast. It’s called, very simply ‘James Talks’.
James Talks will be a weekly podcast where I’ll talk about spirituality, creativity, and identity. About what it means to discover our true identity & live the kind of life we were made for. And about the creative process, both in our work and our lives.
The first episode, ‘You Are Not Alone’ is out right now, and to celebrate the launch I’m releasing two episodes this week – a second episode will go live on Wednesday. Subsequent to this, James Talks will go out once a week on Wednesdays.
You can listen and subscribe to it on iTunes, or follow it on Podbean. I’ll also be posting links to
Seasons & Burnout: 3 Reasons To Take A Break
Someone once said there is a time for everything in life. A time to live, a time to die. A time to work, and a time for rest.
Life is lived in seasons. And this is reflected in the life cycle of the world we all live in.
We see it through the year, from the death, cold and snow of winter to the greenery, light and life of summer. We were designed to live in seasons.
And in life, when a season comes to an end, we lament, we grieve, but then we take what we learned, and move into the next.
Right now, in my life and work, I sense a season ending. And it’s time to lay it down and begin again.
Intertwined with the concept of seasons, is the idea of work and rest. And rest is equally important as work. Whatever culture might say, being busy is not something to be proud of.
A Day Which Proved Love Wins
Friday 26th June 2015. A day which will go down in history. A day which will become many LGBT couple’s wedding anniversary.
This was the day the US Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was a legal right across the US.
I can’t tell you the joy I felt, as a straight ally, as this news sunk in. The freedom this gave to so many. A right which had been denied for so long, finally made legal.
In some ways it’s tragic that we should celebrate this day with such enthusiasm – because this should never have been an issue up for discussion. Each of us should always have been free to make that covenant relationship of marriage with another. To commit to be faithful to someone before God for the rest of their lives.
But the reason this gave me so much hope, was simply because it proved again to me one simple thing.
Love wins.
Love always wins.
It sometimes takes patience. It sometimes takes sacrifice. It might meet resistance. It may have to battle it’s way through lots of boundaries.
But, in the end, love wins.
Do Our Words Bleed?
For such a long time I’ve talked about authenticity. Now the word is becoming more and more like jargon.
And every time I hear it, or discuss it on Twitter with others, I’m feeling an accusing finger pointing my way. That nagging sense many don’t think I’m authentic.
And in my own mind, my greatest fear is fast becoming I’m simply not being authentic enough. Not living or writing with enough integrity or honesty. Still holding back from the real truth.
2 Secrets To Curing Writers Block (& Finding Your Voice)
Over the years I’ve been asked by many people what my answer is to writers block, or feeling dry creatively, or when you’re stuck as a writer.
Because we’ve all been there haven’t we? Sitting at home with literally nothing to say, no motivation to write, feeling totally empty and dry, like we’ll never write another word ever again.
Sound familiar?
Well the best way to answer this question is share my own story.
I’ve struggled with this more than once in my life. And there were two things I did each time to free myself from the shackles of writers block.
When A Great Blog Title Is Pointless
I’ve been blogging for a long time. And in recent years, as I’ve become more professional in my approach, I’ve learned important principles which can helping grow a blog, from some wise, experienced and successful writers.
Some of the key principles they advocated, outside great content, was professional design, and ‘building a platform’.
I won’t lie, these ideas are good in principle There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a great design and wanting to grow a blog. In their place, these concepts are really useful.
But for me, it has seemed at times great design and platform building, essentially a focus outside of the content (ie: aesthetics), had become the point.
And I kept finding myself asking:
“When did aesthetics become more important than our art?”
How Love Of Money Destroys Creativity
I don’t know about you, but I’ve lost count of the number of websites, blog posts, tweets and links which talk about how someone grew their following to an enormous size very quickly.
Websites which show you how to ‘guarantee’ you’ll be a success, to ‘maximise the income’ from your blog, and ‘grow your fanbase’. And many of them are happy to sell you their ‘guaranteed’ path to success and wealth.
You know the ones I mean, right?
Now I’ve got nothing against people making money from their work. One day I hope and expect to do it myself. Work costs time, energy, and sometimes money to produce, and making money from it, with integrity, isn’t wrong.
But I’d rather read more posts about how to discover my true identity, become a better, more authentic writer, and be true to the person I was born to be.
Wouldn’t you?