Posts Tagged ‘Creation’
It’s Imagination Which Brings Transformation
We all know there are massive problems in the world. You don’t need to look very far to see violence, oppression, injustice, inequality, prejudice, corruption and above all fear. Consumerism rules the world. And the problem with consumerism, is that it’s about certainty. To thrive, consumerism needs profit, and profit comes from taking as small…
Read MoreMaking Peace With My Weirdness (Guest Post by Holly Pennington)
Today I’m delighted to welcome my friend Holly Pennington to my blog. Holly is a uniquely gifted writer, blogger from near Seattle, US. She writes about vulnerability, and faith, and has so much wisdom to share. Take it away Holly!
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I’ve never tried to be weird. But I have always felt weird. No purple spiky hair, grunge obsessions or gothic dress phases. Not even a single tiny hidden tattoo. Growing up in the 1980’s, I was a predictable Guess jeans-wearing suburban kid.
But I did own a pair of red plaid Doc Martens once. To be exact, I was only part-owner. My sister and I shared them. We simultaneously fell in love with them but Doc Martens weren’t cheap, so we each paid half. When I went away to college, I took them with me just until my next visit home; then, her turn. Being part-time keeper of the boots somehow made my love for them stronger.
Treading across the Wake Forest University quad, an insecure thumb tucked under each backpack strap and self-conscious eyes fixed downward, the surprise of my feet clad in red plaid filled me with a distinct burst of joy. I felt daring in my Doc Martens. My connection to them was made of courage, awe and a tinge of rebellion.
But, what made me feel weird was not my style; it was my interests.
Read MoreHow Will You Be Transformed in 2016? #OneWord365
Each year is a season. Each year, we undergo a process of transformation, of some kind. We’re never the same person departing the year as we were walking in. Whether we’re intentional or not about this process, transformation always happens. For good, or for ill.
Ironically, the word transformation was one I chose for my ‘OneWord365’ for 2015 (I’m going to talk more about One Word 365 and how it’s impacted my life, and how it can impact yours, in the podcast on Wednesday.
There’s no doubt my life as a whole, and especially my perception of life, faith, spirituality, and creativity, has transformed in 2015. And as happened in previous years, the word I chose has become true in many more ways than I could have foreseen.
But what I’ve learned is we are always in a process of transformation. Whether we like it or not. The choice we have is not whether we’re going to be transformed, but how.
Read More‘James Talks’ 3 Episode Week – 2: ‘Hearing Our Subconscious’
Hey friends, welcome back to the blog. I hope you’ve been enjoying my new podcast, James Talks. We’ve had 3 episodes now & it’s been great so far.
This week I have some great news – there’s going to be three – yes, count ’em, three – episodes.
There was one yesterday called ‘A Tale Of Two Fathers’ (The Bad Father & The Good Father), and there is another new episode going out on Friday.
And to make up the three, there is a brand new episode live right now! It’s called ‘Hearing Our Subconscious’
Today I talk about how creativity and our subconscious are connected, and can help us discover our true, authentic voice.
Read MoreSeasons & 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.
Read More2 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.
Read MoreWhen 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?”
Read MoreFerris Bueller, FOMO & The Truth Of Breathing
A fortnight back I attended a 2 day teaching with Rob Bell on all sorts of subjects. I’ll be blogging about it in more detail soon.
One of the issues he raised was a topic Brenda McGraw touched on last week – burnout, rest. And today I want to talk about another aspect of this – taking care of ourselves.
So naturally, there’s only one person I thought to turn to first.
I’m talking of course, about Ferris Bueller. He once said this:
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”
A well known quote. And as we’ll see, Ferris nails it completely
Read More4 Secrets To Inviting Creativity (Guest Post by Shannon Trindade)
Today I’m delighted to be hosting Shannon Trindade here on the blog. Shannon is a writer, blogger and communications pro who helps business & individuals all over the world connect better with their audience.
She’s an excellent writer & communicator & has a powerful message about creativity to share with us today. So, without further ado, over to Shannon…
If you’re like me, you’d do almost anything to experience more “ah-ha moments”. Those moments of pure creative energy are priceless.
In addition to feeling euphoric, creative moments allow us to experience being connected to something bigger than ourselves. More accurately, it’s a type of connection beyond what our brains can comprehend, control, and measure.
So how do we get more creativity in our lives?
It’s clear you can’t force creativity and ah-ha moments into your life, but you can help them evolve naturally.
Read MoreThe Myth Of ‘Proper’ Writing
I’ve recently been involved in a little discussion over on Facebook about ‘proper’ writing and how my daily writing for a particular day wasn’t ‘proper’ writing but was still writing.
Now you’re thinking lots of different things I’m sure.
Proper writing?
Do I mean writing using formal, even posh, English language?
Do I mean writing legalistically according to the rules of language, spelling and grammar?
Do I mean writing a book instead of a blog post?
So, what did I mean?
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