Posts Tagged ‘Seasons’
What Jason Donovan Taught Me About Hope
My writing, and all my work, is generally about creativity, spirituality and identity. Those are the areas I’m passionate about, and those are where I can use my gifts best. And in one sense this is tied into all of those topics, though on the surface, it may not seem so.
I’ve not seen my country so divided as it’s been over the last few weeks – and even more so since Thursday.
There are divisions on nationality, age, politics, more than ever before. As Britain voted to leave the European Union, it created a rupture in our culture which would break the richter scale. It’s one of those inciting incidents in our culture. A moment that once you’ve passed, you cannot go back from.
And we’re still feeling the shockwaves.
Read MoreIrregular Intentionality: Making Sense Of Our Busy Lives
Blogging has been tough for me for a while. In truth, for nearly a year. Even though I had a break which was meant to help, on reflection I didn’t use that break as effectively as the one I had in 2014.
The recurrence of this issue though, has shown this problem was far deeper.
And I have absolutely no doubt what the real problem is.
It’s an issue with time management. An issue which many of us struggle with, and has become a major issue for me. I’m simply not creating enough space in my life to cultivate the habits, like free-writing, which help me find my voice & inspiration.
And I need to do something about it, or I’m not going to achieve what I’m capable of. Because if we don’t manage our time effectively, we won’t realise our full potential – in any area of life.
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 MoreLetter To Me: Rhiannon Hall
In 2014 I ran a series of guest posts by writer friends, all writing a letter to themselves – either a past self from their present self, or to their present self from their future self.
This inspired my friend Rhiannon Hall, who wrote a letter to herself, and shared it with me. I loved it so much, I got her permission to share it here.
Rhiannon’s is a powerful, moving & courageous letter. So here it is:
Dear 37 Year Old Rhiannon Hall,
First, breathe.
I swear that I remember sitting there starting to reading this… I know you feel that tightness in your chest and you think you are about to cry because you want answers and life seems so complicated and scary. Just do us a favor and breathe for a minute.
Then read on. (And I know you are now fully crying and that’s okay.)
I am proud of you for getting where you are at the moment you are living in. 2015 changed a lot of things for us, didn’t it?
You risked so much to become whole and truly live your authentic life.
Read MoreAfraid? Today Can Be Different
I’ll be honest, something in me panics every time I have to step out and do something on my own, without approval, without knowing the answers, without control, without training.
Every. Single. Time.
Usually, my response is excess panic, emotion, stress, anxiety, fear, thinking a million steps ahead, thousands of ‘what ifs’, jumping all the steps straight to the result, pulse rate going into emergency mode, adrenaline pumping, rational thought gone, mind clouded, stress levels growing.
All together in my body in less than 10 seconds.
This panic is basically what stops me from being the best version of myself.
And it all comes from fear.
Read MoreA 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
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.
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