Creative Loves
Every few months, I gather a handful of my creative loves into a post to share some gems I’ve found either online or out and about that resonate with me and I hope, will resonate with you.
A Song
I heard Take Your Sweet Time by Bell X1 on Lauren Laverne’s 6 Music Breakfast Show. I’d just switched the radio on and it was playing. It was one of those songs that made me stand still and really listen. It resonated with me as I’d been thinking about how we need to slow down the rush of life and be gentle with ourselves. Reading more about the story behind the song, I discovered it was actually about a lady called Jo Milne who had cochlear implants at the age of 40 which allowed her to hear for the very first time. Knowing this makes me fall in love with the gentleness of the song even more.
“And I need you more than want you, for the very first time.” What a lyric.
A Podcast
A bit of frivolity if Sex and The City makes you feel nostalgic for Carrie’s outfits and Samantha’s… Samantha-ness. In the days before streaming we would gather round each others houses to watch new episodes of the show each week. It was an event. Caroline O’Donoghue and Dolly Alderton are mega fans of the show. In this miniseries of podcasts, they discuss the show in exquisite detail. It’ll take you right back to curling up on a sofa with a hangover, binging a season.
A Television Show (& some writing inspiration)
This show is a joint production between HBO Max and BBC so I hope you can access it where you live. I heard comedian Rose Matafeo being interviewed saying that she wanted to create something sweet and romantic. I love it when writers own the desire to do this. No major drama, no massive adrenaline rushes, no gory murders, just good old fashioned falling in love. It’s a gorgeous series to binge on. Gentle and funny. The soundtrack, dressing and sets really add to the feeling of being wrapped up in a blanket by Rose and Alice Snedden’s warm-hearted writing. The premise is a kind of Notting Hill in reverse as it starts with Rose’s character Jessie having a one night stand with a man who she doesn’t realise is a movie star. The series follows what happens in the following year. Apart from being lovely to watch as a viewer, I also found the show really inspiring as a writer. The dialogue is so natural and the story arc is totally absorbing. Can you tell I loved it?!
A Picture Book
Just how beautiful is this book cover? The colours. The light. I saw this image whizz by on Twitter and immediately scrolled back. I Talk Like A River, written by Jordan Scott and illustrated by Sydney Smith is Jordan’s own story of having a stutter. On a “bad speech day” his father takes him to the river, a quiet place where he can see the water behaves like his speech. It’s such a kind, gentle book which doesn’t try to ‘fix’ stuttering but rather accepts it as it is and softens the fear of sometimes not being able to speak fluidly.
New Brushstrokes
Not a ‘thing’ as such but I am loving experimenting with bolder brushstrokes while I’m painting. It’s easy to get in a comfort zone with making art. I sometimes find myself trying too hard to make a painting look how I want it to. Inevitably this doesn’t work and I just end up feeling frustrated. To thwart this I push against trying to control the outcome, trying to make something precise. Recently this has led to me swishing colours around boldly but also thinking more about colours that feel more organic and connected to nature. I feel I’m somehow trying to get the energy rush in my head on to the page. It feels really good to let go of trying to make something specific and just to feel the creative flow.
Another Song
This is the perfect tune as the weather gets warmer. It is the sun going down, a cold glass of rosé, fairylights in the trees, stars in the sky. It’s just so soothing. I’ve been playing it on a loop.
