Category: Living creatively

Walking with Annabel: her wonderful books on women walking

May 1, 2024

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Pen

in Annabel Abbs, Annabel Streets, Living creatively, stress management, walking

Expanding the moment Annabel Abbs wrote Windswept: Walking in the footsteps of remarkable women (Two Roads, 2021) about some famous and not so famous women who were serious walkers at times when that was unusual and often dangerous. (It’s back in the library before I took a photo, so another of her books I discuss…
In the arms of the angels: How To Be An Artist and On Connection

Sep 1, 2023

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Pen

in imagination, leadership, Living creatively, value of the arts, Winston Churchill, writers’ health

Courage and the imagination ‘Every good work of art has courage in it somewhere,’ writes Jerry Saltz in his How To Be An Artist (Hachette, 2022). He also claims that ‘Courage is a desperate gamble that will place you in the arms of the angels.’ (p. 81) Is the concept of courage relevant when we’re…
Alba Donati: a cottage full of books

Jun 12, 2023

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Pen

in Alba Donati, Bookshops, Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop, gardening, Living creatively, stress management, value of the arts

Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati. Trans. By Elena Pala. (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2022. 193 pp) People want stories In December 2019 Alba Donati opened her bookshop in Lucignana, her home town, a village of 180 people. The bookshop sat on a two and a half metre site on a craggy hill. Just…
Thirty Two Words for Field and Sand Talk – Irish and Indigenous wisdom

May 12, 2023

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Pen

in arts and health, Australia behind, Blasket islands, Books, capitalism, Common Good, Democracy, Indigenous wisdom, Inequality – Australia, Living creatively, Manchan Magan, mental illness, Nature writing – Irish, rural Ireland, Sand Talk, sustainable living, value of the arts

Connecting with a better world Apart from reading some fantastic books, I’ve been having fun with my new Kick-Start creative writing workshops. They’ve been zipping along with the poetic contributions of talented students, filling the BRAG room on Tuesday nights with laughter and creative verve. BRAG stands for Braidwood Regional Arts Group and you can…
‘You are the author of your own life’ – creative writing workshops to write a bright new chapter

Feb 28, 2023

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Pen

in Living creatively, Penny Hanley’s Creative Writing course, Perseverance in writing, Short stories, Tim Ferriss, value of the arts, writers’ health, Writing – tools of the trade

Risk We tap into our creativity through play. The technique I use in my Kick-Start workshops is a key that smoothly unlocks a door to the side of your brain that’s much less used in our linear, left-brain-dominant society. Under the Neo-Liberal economic dogma dominating every aspect of society no matter which major party is…
Lost Focus – Johann Hari’s feasible solutions to our burning problems

Apr 13, 2022

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Pen

in capitalism, Democracy, depression, digital technology, dreams, Leisure, Living creatively, media negativity, mental illness, stress management, writers’ health

Tsunamis of information are drowning us We’ve lost our ability to focus. Tsunamis of information are coming at us, drenching us every minute of every waking hour. We can’t keep up with it, mentally or emotionally. What we sacrifice when we try is depth. Not to mention sanity, peace of mind and our democracy. In…
A hopeful path forward in a fractured world – Sarah Wilson’s new book

Jan 17, 2021

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Pen

in capitalism, Democracy, health, Living creatively, optimism, politics, sarah wilson, Simplifying, sustainable living, value of the arts

An adventurous heart Sarah Wilson’s This One Wild and Precious Life navigates through the problems facing us all right now: coronavirus, climate change, racial inequalities, political and economic polarisation, as well as loneliness, in an accessible, thought-provoking way. The author spent three years pondering these issues and she takes us on her travels over that…
Why read? Why write? Why bother? On reclaiming our language and our lives and having a laugh

Sep 13, 2020

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Pen

in capitalism, Comedy writing, Democracy, humour as medicine, Living creatively, social capital, value of the arts

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity Because I’ve been writing a new novel (working title: Tumult) I’ve postponed writing a new blog post. Immersed in the world of the novel, it’s only when I feel super strongly about a book I’ve read that I’m desperate to tell people about it. Two small books stand out.…
Drinking the days: biographies and oysters

Jan 28, 2020

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Pen

in Australian memoir, Christina Stead, Democracy, Dennis Glover, Kay Schubach, Living creatively, mental illness, optimism, value of the arts

‘Set wide the window. Let me drink the day.’ American writer Edith Wharton (1862-1937) wrote that. I love it and would often think of it after opening the curtains first thing. But her words took on a tragic tone in the mornings after the bushfires began. We could no longer open windows. Canberra’s air quality…
Thinking women, hope and regeneration

Jun 12, 2019

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Pen

in Andrea Goldsmith, Australia behind, Australian novels, Democracy, Living creatively, Movies, optimism, Toni Jordan

Am I advocating escapism? It’s been hard to find anything uplifting to say in the last few weeks. The last time I read John Milton (1608-1674) was in English (Hons) many years ago. But I just came across a quotation from Paradise Lost that seems like a sanity-saver in the world we’re enduring now. ‘The…