What are you doing it for?
This post follows on from my last post on creative frustration. When I was writing about how frustrated we can get during the creative ‘process’, I thought to myself “why do we put ourselves through it?” Why don’t we just stop… and carry on living our lives, frustration free? Because, quite simply - we can’t. I remember when I was at uni one of our lecturers Seamus (amazing Irish man…
Dealing with creative frustration
Do you ever get so frustrated with yourself creatively? Here’s a fun story about the first time I encountered this and how the police nearly got involved: I was at home, probably 13 or 14, and I was practising a piece of music on the flute. I loved playing the flute, but this piece of music… I just could NOT get right. I ended up getting so frustrated with myself…
Five films to inspire creativity
Have you ever come away from watching a film feeling in awe, inspired and raring to create something beautiful? Often we dismiss movie watching as something to do to switch-off, as a bit of escapism - and don’t get me wrong, it absolutely can be this - but it can also be so much more. Watch the right movie and you will be moved. You’ll note the subtlety and pace…
Life lessons from Japan
Recently, for whatever reason, a number of Japanese phrases have come to my attention - either through general reading or conversations with Dan. I’ve never been to Japan, but it is most definitely on my list. I want to witness cherry blossoms in bloom, eat some delicious ramen and meet a culture so beautifully different to my own. The phrases and words I came across recently are difficult to directly…
Feel the fear and post it anyway
Have you ever stopped yourself from posting something online because you were scared? Perhaps it was a blog post talking about something personal, or an “imperfect” photo you were worried people would judge you for? For many of us, a great deal of our lives are sprawled out online for everyone to see, and this can feel vulnerable. And I do certainly think that what you choose to share online…
Stepping out of my comfort zone and into what I really want with Blogtacular
If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have spotted that I went to Blogtacular last weekend, a conference for bloggers and creatives in London. I wasn’t actually planning on going… I joined the Facebook group and Twitter chats after discovering Blogtacular’s podcast, but thought I would attend next year, when Blue Jay of Happiness was a bit more established. Then people started saying “looking forward to seeing…
8 more podcasts to inspire you
Since writing my ‘8 podcasts to inspire you‘ post back in January, I have come across loads more inspiring, amazing and generally awesome podcasts. So I thought why not do a follow-up? There’s quite a mixture here, but I have certainly fallen down the ‘creative / entrepreneur’ rabbit hole. And you know what? It’s fun. Even though I don’t run my own business (yet - ha) I find a lot of the…
Creating a brand with purpose with Island Feather founder Claudia Albrecht
I’m so thrilled that today I can share another ‘hope‘ interview featuring another of my very talented friends - Claudia. I always noticed Claudia at school, she was carefree and genuine. Much like with Emily, I didn’t get to know Claudia really well until college where we bonded over a mutual love for Linkin Park and skater boys. Suffice to say, she’s come a long way since then, but her…
The importance of creativity
Being able to create things is a key part of being human. Using our imaginations to make something, in whatever form, is pretty unique. I think it’s pretty important too. There are lots of people out there who will probably be reading this thinking, ‘but I’m not creative’. Well to you, I say - yes you are. You don’t have to be an artist, musician or writer to be creative.…
Choose what you consume
This is a bit of a follow-up to my ‘inspiring people to follow on social media‘ post. There I talked about curating your social feeds to bring light and positivity to your daily scroll. Today I want to talk about other forms of media. It can feel, sometimes, like we’re being spoon-fed content. There is so much ‘noise’ surrounding it that it can be hard to ignore. Each newspaper, magazine, TV…