It’s been a while since I was writing blogs weekly or more for Whatsonstage and for my CGO website. Its all change at Whatsonstage, and I’ve had to focus energy on my personal world for a bit with the death of my mother who had Alzheimer’s for too long. Mix of stuff to do, relief, and sadness for a lost life. Anyway now its 2014…someone has just emailed that they are following my Blog….and so I’d better get started and write one. I’m writing a book. And last week Kath and I spent an idyllic working week in a tiny flat overlooking Mount’s Bay in Cornwall reading and writing. My book is currently called “Coffee or Peppermint Tea – stimulation or soothing words for creative artists on their journey”. Its come from my 5 years of CGO Surgeries for creative artists (still ongoing) and my 4 years of Whatsonstage blog writing. It’s a dip in stocking filler for those who work in the arts and are aspiring, inspired, stuck, or tired. I hope it will give them stimulation or soothing. I hope it will be packed with very simple ideas. I know the first draft is 45,000 words – and that’s before I add in loads of great ideas I may glean from D&D this weekend. So watch this space, kindle, bookshelf, website or whatever – and do shout if you are a publisher !!. And so, for around 300 of us arts practitioners, the year really starts this Saturday at Devoted and Disgruntled. Until now we have been catching up on emails, filing accounts, wondering how to fit in all the free projects, and wondering where all the paid gigs are. Now, over the weekend, we can root into reality, be inspired by our peers, calmed by a circle of Open Space, and get stuck into 2014. If you don’t know what I am talking about then don’t explore too deeply. Just book yourself off work/life for the weekend, go to www.devotedanddisgruntled.com and book to join us in York Hall, Bethnal Green, London. And prepare to be surprised. If you have a burning project in your heart for which you need help, direction, colleagues then D&D is for you. If you are wondering what your life purpose is and why you still work in theatre and the arts then D&D is for you. If you want that one special person to become part of your creative life then D&D just might reveal them to you. And if you just want to share in some of the joy which other creatives give you about the arts then D&D is most definitely for you. I am older and as devoted, and more battle scared and less disgruntled than many there. I love it. And so I have a few very practical needs…see if my 2 (or maybe more) readers can help me fulfil some “needs”: a) Some Russian fluent speaking UK based actors to get on a list for a project. b) A genealogist who would like to help me find my half-sister (alive I hope) & more about my father (man of mystery died 2000). c) Two more business leaders who would like to learn the Art of Being Heard in Ipswich. d) People who would like to know more about www.authenticartist.co.uk/aphrodite–nights That’s enough for the first Blog of the year. Thank you Annette for kicking me to start again. May your beautiful yoga practice and retreats fill up fast.
Coaching, Creativity and Making Connections