Last night we went to the inaugural opening of our new local library. Over the last year it’s been renovated into a double storey, youth and community space with plenty of light and areas to quietly read, work or gather with others. To celebrate, the library had put on entertainment through the day plus a […]
Creative Challenge – Day 22
I am doing Meredith Lewis Creative Challenge – an advent calendar of daily creative prompts and today it’s to recreate an artwork using materials around you. I’m a great fan of Vermeer. Some years ago I was a Rotary Vocational Exchange Program participant for some weeks in the Netherlands. My time on exchange meant that […]
Objects of Affection
For the last few months, I’ve been watching various YouTube channels that follow quite creative and inspiring people to share stories about objects around their home. I’m not a minimalist by any stretch of the imagination. However, on the one hand, I don’t like clutter and on the other hand, I also like a house […]
Creative Challenge – Day 19
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative prompt challenge and for today’s activity, it’s to banish this ugly looking demon who has stifled and prevented my creative endeavours. Bloody hell it’s you again. You’ve reared your ugly head again just at the time when I thought of a new idea that I was getting […]
Creative Challenge – Day 18
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative prompt challenge and today it’s to face up to someone who has criticised or prevented us from our creative expressions. That was an easy challenge for today’s prompt because it’s so evident in my life that the turning point for me was early in my career when […]
Creative Challenge – Day 17
I am doing Meredith Lewis daily creative prompts for December and today’s challenge is to: List at least five different supportive people who can support you in your creative endeavours, whatever they may be. And if you can’t, list some ways in which you might find them. Wow, this is a tough one. I’ve long […]
Creative Challenge – Day 16
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative challenge for the month of December and today it was to “memorise a poem”. It’s fair to say that poetry hasn’t been an interest of mine in my life. I think it’s because of bad school memories of English class having to read and interpret poems. To […]
Creative Challenge – Day 14
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative prompt challenge and today it’s to make up a story or scenario using the following painting by Berthold Woltze called The Irritating Gentleman. My first thought when I saw this (and I have never seen this painting before) is it’s a typical scene from many young women’s […]
Creative Challenge – Day 13
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) creative prompt challenge every day in December. So far these have been excellent to trigger some reflections but today’s one is something I’m unsure in expressing so openly for fear of what it may mean to my friends, work and networks. As a creative person, what is in your […]
Creative Challenge – Day 11
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative prompt challenge for December and today, the task she asks us to do is: “Today I would like you to reflect on your own creative identity and your relationship with that: how do you perceive yourself to be creative?” She asks us to think about it in […]
Creative Challenge – Day 10
I am doing Meredith Lewis Daily December challenge where she prompts us to get creative every day. Today is a bit of a cop out for me because I simply ran out of time. I hate using this as an excuse usually because I’m always a believer that if something is important to you, you’ll […]
Creative Challenge – Day 8
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) creative challenge and today’s creative prompt is “What Happens Next?” After spending the day walking through a lush forest near my home, I began to feel like myself again. I felt the cool, clean damp air enter my lungs and be expelled with every breath taking away the tension […]
Day 7 – Creative Challenge
I am doing Meredith Lewis (@dangerousmere) daily creative prompt and today it’s to write as if I’ve been shipwrecked. My name is McCoy. Able Seaman William McCoy of His Majesty’s Ship the Bounty. Or, I was. I’m not sure what I am anymore – or who I am. I belong to no ship now. The […]
Creative Challenge – Day 6
I am doing Meredith Lewis creative challenge and today’s creative prompt is “Who’s Future Am I Living?” I don’t know where I am. I look around me and I see a room. There is so much light. I look around and see a chair, a cat quietly dozing on a lounge. Books, lots of books. […]
My French Learning Journey – What’s Next…continued
I’m still deliberating what to do next year in my French learning journey and come to the realisation that at an intermediate level now, I’m STILL not speaking enough of it. On the other hand, I’m listening to a lot more (and proud to say understanding most of it – when they’re not speaking slang) […]
Day 3 – Creative Challenge
I’m doing Meredith Lewis December Advent Creative Calendar challenge. Today’s creative prompt is: “Well, I would put a question to you. What’s the difference between you and your great-great-great-grandfather? What makes you different? I think the answer is this: what you take for granted.” – David Mitchell in Light the dark: Writers on creativity, inspiration, and the artistic […]
Microsoft Teams Rooms: A Mini Masterclass
Yesterday I put the final touches to a mini-masterclass on Microsoft Teams Rooms. I had started this over a month ago when there was talk at work about how organisations now are preparing their people to return to the office. In particular, how to help organisations with their actual physical space requirements for hybrid work. […]
My French Learning Journey…What’s Next?
I can’t believe that when I started on my learning journey to become fluent in French, two years ago have passed. Since then, I have had my life enriched with new people I have met around the world who are French native speakers or francophiles who have helped and supported me along the way. I […]
We Wrote Another Book on Gourmet Teamwork
A couple of years ago, the company I was working for at the time Adopt & Embrace, decided to write a book together. The book was called Adopt & Embrace Microsoft Teams: A Manager’s Guide to Communication, Collaboration and Co-ordination with Microsoft Teams. It was a wonderful experience to write a book with my colleagues […]
The Fickleness of Mindset & Motivation
People have asked me why I seem so generally upbeat and positive most of the time. Truth is, I’m not really. I think I’m like most people who struggle with thoughts of self-doubt but cover it up with a smile or a can do attitude. I’m someone who hasn’t figured out how to control mindset […]