Finding a reason for walking on a beach, and then realising that the feeling of sand between the toes will powerfully evoke memories:

trying

I have looked up into the stars at night
That are so scattered
Across the infinitely deep sky

I have seen into great vacuums of awesome space
And been left standing
Not understanding
But trying.

Begin to write as you normally would. Carry on writing until you get to the end point. Then, review what you have written. Find the natural point in the writing where the work really kicks in: the point where you are actually in focus.

This is the point where you want the writing to begin. So, cut everything that comes before that – and you have two choices. You can either lose the earlier section if it doesn’t contribute anything, or move it further on in the writing.

I am looking for the point of balance between head and heart. It’s the dance between the known and the unknown. I have written before about the way in which so much of the work that we do is a performance. Well, that has made me think more about the nature of the performance. Sometimes we work from a very scripted place – at such times it might be a meeting with a formal agenda, clear goals and a project plan. There is little space for innovation or creativity. This is the head space.

Then, at other times we are drifting in creative space, looking for ideas. Perhaps we are brainstorming or generating new ideas in other ways. This is the heart space.

The place between head and heart brings these things together into a creative tension. The closest of comparisons would be with improvisation. Especially with musical improvisation. If you haven’t listened to a CD of one of Keith Jarrett’s live improvisations, I would recommend that you do. He goes onto the stage with the parameters of the live event as the only boundaries. Beyond that, he empties his mind of pre-conceived ideas and creates new and fresh music on the spur of the moment. It is remarkable to hear and incredible to watch.

It is this space that I am thinking about. Thus, somewhere between head and heart, we find a creative space of improvisation. It can come in giving a presentation, running a workshop, in a coaching session. When it arrives, we find that the words springing from our mouths are a surprise. The ideas that come forward are new, they form in the interaction with others. We find a completely new perspective in the connecting with others.

Before

The dark is rising
Now hear all of this
Last night the stars shone
And I watched them twinkle
One drop in each shard of space
Another droplet like a tear from the eye
Flip inwards, peopled with creatures
All standing shell-like, open to us
Watching the night sky
Pacing forwards and
Backwards, until
The sky empties
No stars
No sun
No
N

If you want to see more of my writing, please drop your email address into the box over on the right. I’ll add it to my list, and send you content that isn’t available on the website.

On Sunday I settled down late morning to write a poem. It’s approaching the anniversary of my father’s death and I wanted to do something that would help with this. I was also keen to build on something I had already written. I took a poem from a collection of poems back in 1998 called ‘Brother Spirit Brother Soul’ and thought this would provide useful inspiration.

The poem had 24 lines, so I dropped each line at the top of a separate page. The intention was to write a poem for each of the lines. After I had written one I thought I’d try another. Well, without going into detail on the passage of time, 6 hours later I had written 24 poems, chosen a photo for the cover and had a booklet completed.

I may return to it to do some further editing of the poems, but for now here it is. I’ve sent it out to a few people for comment. I’ve never had such an intensive period of creativity before. It’s fascinating to look back at it now and see how the ideas ebbed and flowed as time passed. Pushing myself on with the experiment brought through ideas that wouldn’t have otherwise emerged. An interesting experiment, which I think I will repeat.

What did it teach me? Immense amounts of creativity come just one step at a time. Commit to small steps. Having 24 titles to work with created the instant stimulus to work from, which made the process of generating something new easier because there was already a starting point.

Anyway, feel free to download the pdf by clicking here and have a look at the book – “Spirit Soul: Pursuance”. You can also go to this page to find other pdf’s for download. I’d welcome feedback. I’m still unable to open up comments without being deluged with junk, so use the contact form.

Here’s a poem, hot off the press, from a new collection I am in the middle of writing called “Father, Brother, Son”. On the poetry front, I will be posting the pdf of ‘November Suite’, a collection I wrote through the month of November last year, in the next few weeks. It will be available as a free download. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading this one:

This spectacular view again, bored with it

This spectacular view again, bored with it
- Staying in this temporary home -
What happens to the flow of life, with this big disruption?

And I see a jay, in the bush, unaware of me.
Magnificent costume, my clothes drab, lesson learned then.
The sun shines on the unjust and the cruel, like the victims too.

Winds serrate the landscape at 80 miles an hour for hours.
How does this have such a gut pulling shape on my emotions?
The eye of I wonders why.

Should I stare at a Rothko painting for days on end,
Contemplate the suicide of a place of turmoil,
To see into his three band state of mind?

Or should I walk on deserted beaches, deckchairs flapping
Seagulls pitching and dive bombing, thoughts of
Everything I lived in, everything I have lost?

Landscape then is all there is, the sense that
Living is bigger than loving, that is the start point,
Where survival holds all together, safe in harbour.

I will sail again, for new places, new people
But not until I have let go of old journeys,
And anniversaries that scrape the surfaces of my experiences clean.

I have written about TED Talks before. For some time now (maybe 3 years?) I have been watching videos on the TED website. TED (Technology Entertainment Design) has the motto “ideas worth spreading”. It began as an annual conference bringing together people from those three fields to hear great presentations about cutting edge ideas. Over the years it has grown, so that there are now many events throughout the world in addition to the 2 ’official’ events.

Getting to attend TED is really difficult, and very expensive. The demand is immense. The podcast solves all of that. It is free and can be subscribed to in all the usual way (including the ubiquitous iTunes). Five days a week a new video appears – ranging from 5 minutes to 20 minutes with a small advert at the end to cover costs.

If you are at all interested, go to the site and look at a couple of the videos. I am sure you will be hooked, and find yourself being inspired on topics of an incredibly diverse nature. I’m constantly drawing on things from TED videos to stretch my creativity, and extend the ideas that I have. Strongly recommended.

I’m keen to keep building this circle of support, as well as building a readership for the finished book so if you would like a copy of the booklet please do get in touch using the contact form and I will send it to you.