The Ritual of New Year Reflections: Let’s make every moment count
Last night, a small gathering of friends made wishes before blowing out candles on a cake. We were celebrating another revolution around the sun for planet Earth. The desire for a new year to begin and for 2017 to end seemed an almost unanimous outlook for many friends and family that I had encountered over the past weeks. Resolutions were...
Elevated Splendor: Big Bend Solitude and Terlingua
“The mountains are calling, and I must go”. John Muir, Yosemite Valley 1873. These are the words sprawled across the minty green shirts presented by my cousin for her fortieth year celebratory trip at Big Bend National Park, which have lingered periodically in my mind since returning to Austin. As I gazed docilely at...
CreativeMornings Austin: A Magical Initiation
It’s 7.30am and I’m peddling through South Austin’s winding roads, greeted by the glorious pink light of sunrise. The cool, fresh air envelops me; a welcome change after the past 6 months, more accustomed to the feeling of wearing a vest of hot coals. With 2 different lollipop ladies (mind my British, I mean ‘crossing guards’) waving me by...
Let your Authentic Self be Front Facing
A TED talk delivered by the masterful David Byrne on how architecture has helped music evolve has sparked deeper cerebral churning. Byrne went on to quote the American author Thomas Frank, regarding the voting process: “Voters (like a lot of us) assume if they hear something that ‘sounds like’ its sincere, that its coming from the gut, that its passionate… that...
Don’t let Digital kill the Art of Conversation
Speed kills. I’m sure you’re familiar with the advertising campaigns that bolstered our road safety regulations. Texting whilst driving has also joined the ranks in securing more consciousness for travel in order to prevent unnecessary deaths or accidents. Whether you agree with this ruling or not, the digital and velocity based elements of these factors play...
Faith: The Forgotten Motivator
Following a recent meeting of family friends, a waver in self-belief resulted in the calming retort: “Have some faith”. This simple statement came from a dear friend of my late parents, with added resonance because he has known me since youth and through to adulthood. It was not a dispersion on my character, more of a...
The Altruist Activist: Why we must learn from each other
In the early hours, the birds by my window drown the skies with their dawn chorus, a daily ritual which regularly lures me from the sanctuary of sleep. Their morning call is an essential part of their existence, which mostly comprise of males who sing to compete and attract partners, as well as stake their territory. Those that sing...
You are not Immortal: Modern Life Mindfulness
It is someone’s birthday today. The fourth of May was cause for celebration of 4 friends and almost every day I get a Facebook reminder of whom to ‘help’ celebrate their day. The overall year of my friendships has October containing the most birthdays and April the least. The more friends I acquire, the more...
Deconstructing ‘The Block’: The Quest for Inspiration
If you are one of those lucky people that flows creativity from every vein with as much ease as blinking, then stop reading now. If however you are like myself, at times wandering aimlessly both in mind and body to source stimuli for an article or art installation, then read on! You may take comfort...
Resolutions for Life (and not just at New Years)
As we enter 2015, it seems inevitable that my latest (and overdue) article relates to this existential moment and the thoughts of what it means to have a fresh new year to play with. January 1st is welcomed worldwide through a variety of ways, some of which involve many libations, with many heavier heads the following...
Longing to ‘be’ happy? Just let yourself BE
There are many things to be said about freedom. One of the most resonant for me though is that it is severely underrated. And I do not speak on this occasion of the reasons and wherefores for incarceration. It is more in regards to the personal and work related restrictions that so many of us...
A Dive Bar of Creativity: 125 Church Street prepares for launch
After the closure of a long-standing cocktail bar ‘White Rabbit’ in Stoke Newington (and not to be mistaken for it’s twin by name in Dalston, a recommended eatery which I wrote about during its advent), mutterings and shifty glances have been made whilst passing by the premises due to the masked windows covertly named ‘125...