Skip to main content
search
Tag

inspired

Count Your Successes (no matter how small)

By Books & Authors, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Life, ThinkingNo Comments

We should all count our successes (no matter how small) and occasionally take time to reflect and contemplate them. So here’s a list of my recent successes:

  • Watched I Love You Phillip Morris, a film about a gay serial con man and prison escapee who finds love in prison. Based on a true story, staring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
  • Installed a printer/scanner/copier on an painfully slow computer running Windows Vista.
  • Found some single-piece deep silver jar lids for some mason jars. The jars will make up part of some Christmas presents, as well as be used for my next batch of candles (more information in the new year).
  • Gift tagged my homemade candles, ready for Christmas.
  • Caught up and reconnected with my family. We gathered, ate (a chicken dinner and wine), talked and laughed lots.
  • Finally caught up with my friend Sye. We all have that one friend that never fails to inspire us. For me, that’s Sye. I talked through a major problem with my idea for my next batch of candles and he solved it like that (*snaps fingers*).
  • Celebrated Samhain in style with my friends Simon & Chrys. Great food, drink, fire, music and company.
  • Come off Facebook for the beginning of the week. I made the decision to come off after seeing two major spoilers about The Walking Dead on my news feed. I’ve been amazed how much time I’ve saved by coming off Facebook and realised how much time I used to spend ‘checking’ Facebook.
  • Come up with titles for a series of blog posts with a Mental Health Focus. I’m thinking of releasing one a week (once they’re all written) on a Monday and calling it #MentalHealthMonday.
  • Shared my post 15 Lies That Depression Would Have You Believe on a number of Facebook pages. This has increased visitor traffic, but not only that, someone commented stating: ‘Thanks for posting that today, I really needed to read/hear that today, really made a lot of sense and was comforting to read (if that makes sense).’ It’s always wonderful when you write something that resonates with someone and helps them.
  • Watched series 1 and 2 of Zoo.
  • Started and finished reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

Here’s a random upbeat cover of The Edge of Glory by Walk off the Earth & Roomie, which makes me feel good:

Click here to display content from YouTube.
Learn more in YouTube’s privacy policy.

Open content directly

Keep counting those successes,

Antony

mental-health-wisdom-banner



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:
Saturday 5 November 2016

Book Review: The Craft – A Witch’s Book Of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison

By Books & Authors, Paganism, ReviewsNo Comments
the-craft-dorothy-morrison-book-cover The Craft – A Witch’s Book Of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison is a brilliant book about The Craft.

I’ve been pagan for a long time, but it’s always good to go back over the basics. This book covers: working with power sources, magical boosters, tools (including Wand, Cup, Athame, Pentacle & other tools), casting a circle and pagan festivals.

Morrison has a warm, engaging and humorous writing style. Reading The Craft is like having an intimate and meaningful conversation with Morrison herself. She writes in a way that informs, ultimately inspires and without a single word wasted.

The Craft is bursting with little gems of knowledge and wisdom such as:

All are direct quotes from The Craft – A Witch’s Book Of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison:

1. “When all elements are used in equal combination, they form static electricity.” (p. 20)
2. “successful magic relies heavily upon emotion rather than logic.” (p. 33)
3. “Magic usually works in twenty-one days, or not at all.” (p. 29)
4. “Part of basic witchery is learning to work with what you have and substitute if need be.” (p. 41)
5. “Not only must we engage our brains when performing magic, we must use them effectively. We have to be able to think, concentrate and focus. We must reply on the creative flow.” (p. 97-98)
6. “When we take our place in the center of the Circle and take our place as Akasha, we provide a perfectly balanced arena from which magic flows…” (p. 112)

I learned some new things and gained an even deeper understanding of somethings by reading The Craft. No matter who you are or what experiences in The Craft you have, undertake all activities and exercises in the book. I undertook all activities and exercises and they all benefited me. Each of the activities are designed to encourage personal growth and learning.

The only thing The Craft missed out is any reference or explanation of what a Book of Shadows is.

The Craft – A Witch’s Book Of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison is a must have for any Witch. It is an excellent reference book for moon phases, sun phases, days of the week, times of day, pagan festivals, plants, herbs, trees, magical tools, dream symbols, stones, deities and the Book of Law.

The Craft – A Witch’s Book Of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison has made it on to my top shelf where my all-time favourite books are kept. It is one that I will read again and reference regularly.

Review soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:
Thursday 18 August 2016

Import: My Awesome Year in Words

By Creativity, Journalism, ThinkingNo Comments

Hi all,

This year has been an awesome year for my reading & reviewing and for my creative writing. Let me take you through the highlights of this year:

In January Headline Publishers emailed me to say they wanted me to do more book reviews for them. I wrote, edited and submitted Stuck Between A Rock… to The Write Review Short Story Prize. Although it wasn’t shortlisted; the experience and learning gained from completing, editing and submitting the short story was invaluable.

In March I saw a call for submissions for short stories for a gay anthropology. I wrote, edited and submitted A Few Amazing Moments. The editors declined the submission stating that it has promise, but needs more work. Again, more invaluable experience and learning was gained.

In April I started writing for The Gay UK and shared this news with you. I decided to be brave and share my short stories online. I was inspired by this TED Talk: Elizabeth Gilbert – Your elusive creative genius.

In May I enjoyed reading & reviewing In His Secret Life by Mel Bossa. I was inspired by Advice About Writing From Anne Rice: ‘Kick Out The Pages!’ I wrote the politically sensitive NEWS: A Letter to Manchester Pride – Why are you giving less money to Gay Charities? article.

By June I was feeling more confident about my writing, thinking to myself: I’m doing it! I’m actually writing! This was helped by being commissioned for my first paid piece of writing by Hire Bloggers.

In July I reviewed I Want Your Love (DVD) and hosted two giveaways on blog, both of these activities was as a result of my continued writing. I renewed hosting on my personal blog and launched a professional writers website, both paid for by my writing.

By September I had submitted, had accepted and published twenty six articles or book reviews on The Gay UK.

In December, I begun work on my next short story and have enquired about a creative writing course at Runshaw College.

It’s been a truly awesome year of creative writing; with a good mix of successes and failures. In 2014, I hope to do more paid journalism and develop, write and submit more short stories into competitions.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


Share on Social Media:
Saturday 28 December 2013
×