Category: Creativity
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Minimalist joys
Having accumulated stuff for most of our adult lives, it seems we’re now embarking on a de-cluttering routine, so that our lifestyle could be said to be moving towards minimalism. Just how long this phase will last is anybody’s guess, but it feels as if it could be refreshing, cool, and well, minimal. I’d like…
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The joy of quiet service
During this contemplative time, when it feels wrong to try to be cheerful, perhaps there’s some joy to be had in quiet service. There will be rather a lot of such devoted serving, by many kind and careful souls, over the next weeks, as two community funerals, and later a memorial gathering, take place. Not…
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The ms is delivered . . .
With a dull thud, the finished first draft lands on the kitchen table, all 272 pages of it. On the one hand, it’s an enormous relief, and a definite joy, but on the other hand it’s an empty space in my heart. I could feel the vacuum encroaching as I developed the ‘last’ scene which…
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The joy of arriving . . .
Today, with any luck, I shall finish the last scene of the last chapter of my third novel. Its working title is: Biome NE47: Daughters of Eden. In these desperate times of war virtually on our doorstep in Eastern Europe, a retreat into the final scenes of a fictional story exploring what a new life…
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Gotta love that hard frost
There’s a special joy to be had, sitting in the warm kitchen, looking out at the hard frost over the East Allen valley, as the sun threatens to encroach over the horizon. I know this, because I’m experiencing it right now for myself. And if I am cheerful and ready for the day, it’s no…
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Doing my bit for
Oh no! The big day came and went and I was out among the stars! But I console myself with the realisation that, in some small way I’m doing my bit for the day, if only because yesterday I finished Chapter Nine of my emerging novel. There’s one more chapter to go and then it…
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Delights of fine dining
It felt like an Instagram moment, right here in our dining kitchen, when our cooperating chefs laid out sushi and prawns, avocado slices interspersed with spring onions over black cod and raw abalone, soft-shell crabs fried in crunchy tempura batter. What a delight, and a fruition of a Christmas voucher! The sushi was enveloped in…
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Shooting for the moon . . .
There’s a little watchword, in creative writing circles: during the creative process, banish that editing devil from your shoulder and just channel the flow. Shoot for the moon, in other words, and adjust the trajectory later. I have a friend who can’t get going until they hone the first sentence of their effort to perfection.…
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Sharing joy –> further joy
I could have used any number of icons to illustrate the concept of sharing, of course, but this one struck my fancy. In so many senses, we’re all part of a team, aren’t we? So if I share my joy, and that joy gets shared around with others, well well well, more joy accrues! And…
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Bit of a damp squib, here
My chagrin was just about everyone else’s delight, as the expectations of blizzard conditions here in the North Pennines reduced throughout the day yesterday. And now, this morning we have another light covering of what looks like wet, possibly slightly crunchy snow out there. Not a big blizzard blow at all! But the devastation down…
Roads to Joy 