Sometimes I don’t feel particularly inspired. In fact, I often feel very uninspired. Not good for a songwriter or a freelancer!
And then I read this by Seth Godin. Well, actually Ben showed it to me. In his own words: Seth is a writer, a speaker and an agent of change.
And his words are pretty inspiring:
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Abbey Ryan has painted a new painting every day for 8 years.
Isaac Asimov published 400 books, by typing every day.
This is post #6000 on this blog.
Writer’s block is a myth, a recent invention, a cultural malady.
More important than the output, though, is the act itself. The act of doing it every day. When you commit to a practice, you will certainly have days when you don’t feel like it, when you believe it’s not your best work, when the muse deserts you. But, when you keep your commitment, the muse returns. When you keep your commitment, the work happens.
It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it, buys it, sponsors it or shares it. It matters that you show up.
Show up, sit down and type. (Or paint).
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Thank you Seth Godin. I needed that.
Many of us like things to be unique. To tell a story. We want art. Creativity. Beauty.
If you have been following me, you will be aware of our current Kickstarter campaign. But this post is not about us. This post is about other independent creative friends who have interesting projects I am choosing to support. They have all chosen to pursue their passion (often in place of steady, stable jobs) which is truly admirable. So if you want to support independent artists…here is a good place to start!
Independent Books
Jess McGlynn – Secrets of the River
Independent author Jess McGlynn has released her first independent book for download on Amazon. I am currently half way through and enjoying the plot twists and turns immensely. As it turns out…some secrets just can’t remain hidden…
Way to go Jess!
Independent Film
My ex-colleague and friend, Joseph Bentil, has taken a career change of late (although he has always been involved in acting), and has played many supporting roles in Independent films. I have yet to download the independent film Sweetboy, which they have had success in being shortlisted for San Francisco Black Film Festival in June 2015 and the 2014 American Black Film Festival in New York. This is just awesome!
You can also support the Kickstarter for one of his latest projects, The Receptionist.
Music
The extremely talented Mara Simpson, who we knew from our university days, is going from strength to strength and celebrated the release of her debut EP this year! You can support her by buying her music from her online store here. We’re looking forward to the next chapter Mara!
Music – CEDM
If this is more your thing, you must must must check out the incredible giftings of CEDM producer Levi Whalen. We were fortunate to collaborate with him (from afar) when he remixed one of our tracks earlier this year. His latest release, Timelines is not to be missed!
Artist
Mercy Kagia is an artist and friend, who we met in London, during the five years that we lived there. unique style. Her artwork captures the most important details in its simplicity. Beauty in its fullest. You can find Mercy on Facebook. Oh…and we may have commissioned her to do a portrait for Salt of the Sound! Coming soon…
You guys are inspiring. Never stop chasing your dreams! x
Photo credits: All the artists’ own work.
Last week was somewhat bitter-sweet for me if I’m honest.
We took a group of youth from Immanuel International Church down to Holsby Brunn in Småland, in the south of Sweden for their annual summer camp. It was a time of laughter, worship, outdoor activities, big games, prayer, talking, thinking, eating…the list could go on. It was great to learn more about what is happening in the lives of these young people, and how God is at work – through the good and through many challenging situations they are facing.
So why bitter-sweet?
This camp marked the last big event where Ben and I would lead the youth in this way…and this was continually on my mind. While originally, we were only stepping into this role temporarily, the youth have had a huge impact on my life. (And I have learnt more from them than they probably have from me!) It is incredible to see how they are already growing into such great leaders & thinkers – I have no doubt of the many positive differences they will make to this world in years to come.
Why the change?
I feel that I should say (for my own processing as much as anything) that we love the youth of our church dearly and the reason for this change is not that we don’t want to be in their lives anymore. Rather…
- Now more than ever, we feel in a big way that God is calling us to music ministry (both as Salt of the Sound) and as worship leaders, and we feel a strong conviction to focus on that.
- Originally we were only filling in the youth position for a couple of months (which extended for various reasons) and now here we are… 15 months later.
- This is also in part because we have felt for a while that there is someone at this time who has a greater calling and gifting for the youth ministry of Immanuel International. (And if last week is anything to go by, she is going to be awesome at it!)
But to all the youth of summer camp…if you were ever to read this. This is what I would want you to know:
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God will use you in ways you never thought possible if you let Him.
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So stay open to Him and His plan for your life.
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You are amazing. Dare to be…you!
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The Summer Camp centre we go to is part of Torchbearers International and is one of twenty-six Torchbearers Centres across the globe. They offer fantastic bible school programmes as well as great venues for retreats and conferences – if you haven’t heard of them, you should definitely check them out!
It’s been a while…it’s amazing how time gets away from you. I completely intended to blog over the last couple of months but it’s amazing how time just gets away from you. We had a great trip to New York for Thanksgiving, Niagara & even squeezed in a couple of days in Iceland (definitely my favourite country so far) on our way back home to Sweden.
Anyway, as with every year, 2014 was a year of ups and downs for us. All kinds of great things have happened: moving countries, running marathons, releasing 2 new EPS, starting new musical projects, making new connections…the list goes on. But we also had some sad losses this year, including the huge personal loss of my Grandpa.
I have become quite a thinker over the last few years…I ponder on life’s events a fair amount and as we approached the end of 2014, I began to think about how little we know at the start of a new year. This was the theme for my latest blog post over at Salt of the Sound which I would encourage you to take a peek at.
2015…Here we are! What will happen? We don’t fully know. Will it be a year of successes? Lessons? Or losses? They’ll probably all weave their way in there in some way, shape or form. But we need to be content with the not knowing…and trust that it is in good hands!
Gott Nytt År (Happy New Year) from Sweden! Let’s make 2015 count!
Anita x x x
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Central Park, New York City
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View from Rockerfeller Center, New York City
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Aboard the Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls, Canada
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Niagara Falls
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Enjoying Iceland
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Iceland in the Snow
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Iceland
PS: Photo credits go to my husband ©Ben Tatlow 2014. You can check out his Flickr page here
Working freelance is wonderful – having only recently discovered it, I cannot recommend it highly enough. And as with everything, there is a downside which I find difficult:
I am finding that often whole days can go by and you don’t realise how much you have done – to the point that you don’t think you have done anything at all – especially when some work is aiming towards longer term goals.
Being someone who likes to find solutions to any given problem, this is what I did: I have decided to note down my successes at the end of a project / task in order to be able to look back and see what I have achieved. And I will share with you some some of my highlights from this past week:
(NB: This list is not exhaustive, these are just a few of my achievements this week!)
Before you say it, yes, some of those tasks do not really count as ‘work’ – I know! They are more… Social? Fun? Exciting? How life should be?
Well…yes. I love that our lifestyle is allowing for us to control our own work-life balance. It has taken us a while to learn how we can make this possible but I like what we have found… & we will definitely continue to work in this way so that the positive management of our work-life balance may continue…
