Welcome to my adventures and experiments in creativity. Where writing is like running: sometimes I know where I'm going, and sometimes I see where the mood takes me.


Friday 29 November 2013

Movember update #4

As Movember draws to a close, it's time for one last update.

I know the end of November is tomorrow (Saturday), but I'm off to Germany so I won't be able to post a picture.

Over the weekend I plan to introduce myself to people (though probably not passprt control...!) as Herr E. Lipp, and try to get myself photographed with someone with better facial hair than mine. Someone like this:



It goes without saying that the Herr E. Lipp joke is not mine. I've no idea where or when I heard it, but it isn't mine. Anyway, if you can see past the shininess of my forehead, here's the final photo. The hair was starting to curl over my lip, so I've had it trimmed back a bit in an effort to smarten myself up!


I think it'll be a while, however, before I can enter the World Beard & Moustache Championship...

As part of a team with my work colleagues, we've managed to raise getting on for £400 which seems like a respectable effort. Nevertheless, any further donations made here would be gratefully received!

Friday 22 November 2013

Movember Update #3

Growing a moustache has significantly affected my appearance...



Of course not! Bet you were fooled for a moment though...

Here's the proper update photo; told you I'd try and look the other way.


Definitely thickening out a little now. Don't forget, if you're going bananas for these Movember updates then you can donate here to support men's health charities.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

How Are You Today?


This was only going to be a quick two paragraph blog post – a snatch of observation that, when I started writing, blossomed into a lot more…
 
The Wonder Of Youth
 
You know the advice that exists about child-like wonder? About how we should recapture the creative freedom that we lose in the transition to adulthood?
 
Well, it’s good advice! I wrote about it in We Will WriteThem On The Pitches, after all, but it sure can be difficult to enact. When my fingertips are hovering over the computer keyboard, itching to add another chapter to the next book, sometimes I pile pressure on myself.
 
Pressure to write a certain way, or to meet a self-imposed standard that is tantalisingly out of reach. Always just out of reach!
 
So much pressure … rather than relaxing and letting the words flow. Maybe you do similar with the art you create? In those moments, the idea of embracing the freedom of youth is the last thing on your mind.
 
Learning When To Spot It
 
Yet when you see it happen in other people, it’s a delight to behold. It makes you realise that maturity and world-weariness can be abandoned – even if just for a while – and life can be experienced with the joy that a child should possess.
 
It happened recently at work when a colleague hit one of those ‘silly’ moods; all light-heartedness, jokes and random comments. That person doesn’t aspire to produce art so didn’t recognise it as anything creative, but it was. It lifted the mood, made life seem more fun, and was exactly what the rest of us should aspire to more of the time.
 
And do you know what another colleague said to them? Do you know what they contributed to the improved atmosphere? If I tell you it made my heart sink then you might be able to guess, for the question they asked was:
 
‘What's wrong with you today?’
 
Why Does Something Have To Be Wrong?
 
It’s a sad indictment of society (or my office, at least!) that Colleague 1 could have sat at their desk in a bad mood and nobody would have said a thing. Part of that would have been the rest of us giving them some space, but part of it would also have been the acceptance of such a mood as normal.
 
Then they exhibit positive behaviour and Colleague 2 immediately questions it. That might say more about Colleague 2 than anything else, but I’ve been dwelling on this little episode because I think it’s emblematic of people’s reactions to each other’s moods.
 
One of the benefits of maturity and adulthood is the ability to better control our emotions. It’s not appropriate – or healthy! – to break down at the drop of a hat, but there seems to be an increasing unwillingness for people to appear vulnerable at all – even to close friends.
 
With social media and the inherent distractions of “being busy”, it’s easy to become disconnected from the people nearest and dearest to us. Ironically, something like Twitter makes it easier to embrace randomness: a quick, funny response to someone’s tweet can blossom into a rapid exchange of creativity that enlivens an otherwise humdrum day. The biggest shame is that those exchanges seem to be absent in existing relationships.
 
Or Is That Just Me?
 
I’m concerned at this trend, albeit not sure whether it’s a general one or specific only to my own life! I’ve tried to be more open with people of late and ask genuine, meaningful, ‘How are you?’ questions. Sometimes I get no answer, so perhaps I’m picking the wrong time to ask, or asking in the wrong way.
 
But when I do get an answer (and sometimes when I don’t), I’m sensing feelings of resignation; that “being busy” is the default setting and disconnectedness is simply inevitable. There’s nothing wrong with busy as long as it’s for the right reasons, but if it starts to impact on your mood and relationships then alarm bells should ring – unless, of course, letting relationships slip is a compromise worth accepting.
 
Writing, Listening, Observing
 
It’s not a compromise I’m willing to make, which is why I need to understand this apparent inhibition of our inner child. The most recent round-up e-mail from the website Brain Pickings featured Ernest Hemingway’s advice to writers, and one particular quote stood out:
 
“As a writer you should not judge. You should understand. When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe.”
 
Maybe through writing more I’ve unconsciously developed some of these traits. Not that I’m comparing myself to Hemingway – far from it! – but it could explain why I’m feeling what I’m feeling, and why that concern is not reciprocated as fully as I sometimes wish.
 
By coincidence, in today’s One Thing Today podcast, Michael Nobbs mentioned how leading a somewhat introverted existence can skew your view of things, and finding out the opinions of others is important for perspective. Creating art can be a lonely business, so it’s hardly surprising when we feel the need to connect with people on a more meaningful level.
 
That doesn’t have to be true only of writers or artists – we can all listen and observe better. We encourage children to do so, and as adults we are capable of much greater empathy. Asking, “How are you today?” shouldn’t be a platitude or something we say out of routine. It’s time we asked it like we really meant it, so that we might encourage each other to rediscover our sense of joy.

Friday 15 November 2013

Movember update #2

We're half way there; shaving on a prayer...

15 days into Movember now!

Comments received so far include "coming along nicely", "immense", and comparisons with pirates, French inspectors and 1920s cads.


Maybe I'll look to the right on the next photo... In the meantime, any donations towards men's health charities are gratefully received here. Thanks!

Thursday 7 November 2013

Movember update #1

After the post I wrote the other day, it's lunchtime at the quarter-way stage of Movember and I've just about got 25% of a moustache...

"There's a moustache there somewhere, right?"

If this rather tragic cultivation of facial hair makes you feel inclined to donate a few quid in sympathy (and in a good cause!), you can do so here:


Monday 4 November 2013

A Fresh New Look

The time to start things anew and make a fresh start is usually the New Year. Two  months is a long time to wait though (even if 2014 will probably arrive in the metaphorical blink of an eye), and there's no time like the present of course, so it's time to make this website a better reflection of who I've become during 2013.

Today I've started freshening it up, including featuring some of the projects I've got in the pipeline. They might not materialise for a while, but I think it's important to at least show what I'm working towards.

Time Takes Time, You Know

The biggest obstacle to being a 'part-time creative' - to balancing creative projects with a a regular day job - is using time wisely. I can't write hundreds and hundreds of words each day, so ebooks take time to produce. Blogging takes time too - a long post can take a week to write, which means a week doing nothing on the next book - so I need to reassess.

I want to blog more often, but with shorter posts and more photographs. Little tidbits to keep things interesting while the longer pieces of work take shape. That's the plan, at least!

Things Are Getting Hairy...

My other plan for November is to change my own appearance! Along with a few work colleagues, I'm taking part in Movember for the first time. My top lip doesn't have much to show for its first four days of hair-sprouting, but there's still the best part of four weeks to go and - like writing! - these things take time.

I didn't raise funds for my recent efforts scampering between Newcastle and South Shields, because completing the Great North Run was a very personal achievement. Growing a mo, however, is a fun thing to join in with to raise awareness of men's health, and I'd be really grateful if you felt willing to support my 'tache-growing efforts.

Paul's donation page

Paul's team's profile page

The new look for the website will hopefully last well beyond the end of November; I very much doubt whatever excuse for a moustache I cultivate will do the same! I like to think, however, that I'm doing both for the right reasons.

To everyone who reads this, and particularly to anyone who donates a few quid: thanks for your support.