When desire chokes reason
Having a creative dream is to allow desire to choke reason again and again. I heard this phrase, ‘desire choked reason’, on a recent Modern Love podcast episode. The interviewer asked why the author of the tiny love story went into a new relationship even though she was scared and badly burned from a previous divorce. Her answer was simple – “desire choked reason”. This… this is why we continue…
How to cultivate curiosity
The official definition of curiosity is ‘a strong desire to know or learn something’. To me, it means understanding something, seeking out knowledge and revelling in the new experience that brings. I’ve been thinking recently how curiosity has shown up in my life. I didn’t love school or even really learning (in a formal setting at least), but I’ve always been curious about people and what makes them tick. I…
Compassionate goal setting
I mentioned this here recently, but there is such a back to school vibe this September. I don’t know if it’s always like this and I’ve never noticed before, or if it’s because I launched something new myself, but wow – there is some energy in this month. I think that energy is change… it’s calling for us to develop, learn and grow. It’s making us want to declutter all the…
Letter to my younger self
As many of you know by now, I struggled a lot in my teens and early 20s, I struggled with confidence, low self-esteem, anorexia and self-harm. A great deal of my wanting to be a coach who helps people with self-worth and self-care has come from these experiences. Sometimes I feel like what I write here are the words I would have loved my younger self to read. So today…
In defence of online activism
Would you call yourself an activist? If you asked me that question, I think I would say I’m dipping my toe in the water, discovering my passions and getting more vocal about them – especially online. This is what I want to talk about today – online activism. Some people have a bit of a problem with it, believing it can’t create real change and that some people post about…
Managing mental health and becoming a creative entrepreneur with Laurie Collins
One of my favourite things about blogging and the online world in general is the way it connects you with people. A couple of months ago I got a lovely response to my newsletter from Laurie. When she told me about herself and the story of how her beautiful clothing brand, A Woodland Gathering, came about – I couldn’t not ask her to share it here on Blue Jay of…
Five podcasts to inspire hope
This will be my third podcast round-up on the blog so far, and I think that just goes to show what a growing medium it is. Listening to podcasts has opened up a whole new world of content consumption for me. When I hear myself talking about podcasts to people who haven’t listened to them, I feel a little like a religious leader, trying to get them to join me…
Eating disorder recovery tips
Eating disorders are… really bloody complicated. So complicated that it can be quite a scary topic to write about or even talk about, but you know what? We need to talk about it more. After watching Louis Theroux’s recent documentary on anorexia, I saw more than ever that only part of the story is being told. To be honest, while I love Louis, I had some issues with the documentary,…
Monthly mindscape – October
This time round I want to mix up my usual formula. If you haven’t read my monthly mindscape posts before, usually I use prompt dice to set a few topics for a short story. I do no prep work and just write what comes into my head, with varying success. It’s a bit of fun and stretches my creative writing muscles. Last month, I used the prompt dice but I…
Five great things
I’ve been tackling some pretty deep topics lately here, so I wanted to inject a little light with this post. And with that light I want to point you towards some truly great things that are happening. Our focus can so often be on what’s wrong with the world and what needs fixing that we can miss some of the beautiful things going on right in front of us. I…