“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe” - Carl Sagan
Over the past few months I’ve had the opportunity to chat with a number of really inspirational people. It’s been a great experience, because it’s taught me things about myself, and it’s been great building the first branches of a network of amazing people who I can call acquaintances, and perhaps one day friends.
Continue reading »
I’ve had an interest in international development since studying it as part of my master’s, but though I’ve always considered it an important subject I’ve opted to take a more local approach to my own contributions to society.
Scott, it seems, has done completely the opposite. During our chat he told me of his extensive traveling, his international projects, his ‘commutes’ from Australia to the UK, and eventually his landing a job at the UN, where he helps to improve understanding of issues around HIV. All impressive stuff, but I was most inspired by his seeming ability to take it all in his stride. The way he talks about it, juggling the life of international travel, politics, marketing and PR is as simple as growing potatoes.
It’s a good read, and an inspirational story, and if you want more, you can check out his blog…
Continue reading »
This week I’ve been mostly eating roast lamb, and watching newly hatched ducklings on the stream in my local park.
It’s got me thinking about renewal. Spring has sprung, and with it all the hope that renewal brings. All things arise, and all things fade away, but that’s not the end of the story. With each new blossom of creation the universe is changed. New possibilities arise, and old possibilities fade away.
Continue reading »
Carolyn is an artist and a playwright who approached me through Inspired Primate, to share some ideas she’d been examining around the shamanic idea of the ‘medicine wheel’. Now, as you may know, I’m a bit of a hippie. I seem to ride the wave between scientist and spiritualist, and I dig both sides. Carolyn is a bit of a hippie too, but her work seems to be a genuine source of positivity in the real world. She’s interested in exploring the relationships between people, and we discussed her involvement in restorative justice – a system of justice which values community healing over punishment.
I like to call these interviews ‘chats’ and this one really lives up to that. The topics meander but Carolyn’s message of love seems to be a thread throughout. I thought you might enjoy eavesdropping on this, hopefully the first of many chats I’ll be having with Carolyn about life, the universe and everything…. (oh, and you can check out Carolyn’s work here: CDGoodArt)
Continue reading »
This week I’ve been mostly eating cake and doing some bird watching at the lake. A pair of grey geese had set up a nest, but I noticed that the daddy goose had his work cut out for him, defending the nest from some invading canadian geese. The canadian geese were out to steal the nest for themselves, and believe it or not they won! Now Mrs. canadian goose is sitting pretty on a batch of eggs and the grey geese are out in the cold…
Somewhat relatedly I’ve been continuing to think about the times when life seems to throw us a curve ball this week. As you may have read I’ve just come out of a very difficult time and I’m still to an extent trying to make sense of it all. Life, it seems to me, is all about the narratives we tell ourselves and the way we frame the positive and negative things that happen to us.
Continue reading »
Today’s chat is with Steve, a marathon runner who suffers from the chronic lung disease, cystic fibrosis. Steve spends a good portion of his day medicating himself for his illness, but as I discovered, he still finds the time to get out running, and he’s notched up some pretty impressive marathon times. I first discovered Steve when I watched an advert he appeared in for a US sporting goods store. Check it out here, it’s pretty inspiring stuff, then come back and find out more… (oh… and you can also connect with Steve on Twitter, or on his blog)…
Continue reading »
One of the things I’ve been thinking about this week is kaizen. I learnt the term a few years back but I’d forgotten it until recently. It’s refers to the principal of continuous improvement, and originates from the world of business in Japan.
Continue reading »
Rebecca is an artist. She mostly paints outdoor scenes of the countryside, animals and plants, boats, birds and butterflys. She suffers from Stills disease which means that most of her bones are fused together, and she hasn’t grown significantly since childhood.
I wanted to talk to Rebecca because I was interested in how her illness affects her art. If I’m honest I thought it would make a good story. But in talking to her I realised something about Rebecca – she doesn’t think about her illness, and she doesn’t define herself by it. She is an artist, first and foremost. Her art is as essential to her as breathing, and that’s why she does it.
Let’s find out more…
Continue reading »
Continue reading »
The last few months have been tough for me. In fact, they’ve been the hardest time of my life. Last May a lot of things all changed at once. The biggest change was that I moved away from the farm where I’d been living for a year, because living with my uncle wasn’t working out. It was a major blow – I had been making extensive plans about becoming a full-time farmer and suddenly my whole future was up in the air. I took a break from writing, and pretty much everything else, and spent some time doing some serious thinking, and some healing.
Russ is a personal hero of mine. He’s based in Australia, working for a company called ‘Your Charisma Coach’, teaching social skills. But I met him years ago. The insider story is that before I started Inspired Primate I was a professional dating coach – helping men to find their confidence. And before that I was a lonely Londoner with no girlfriend. I met Russ while interning with a coaching company – Russ was a coach and I was ready to soak up what he had to teach.
The most profound thing I learnt from Russ was the value in being yourself. Russ is one of the nicest, most authentic guys you could hope to meet… and he’s got a very cheeky smile… who could resist?
Anyway, enough about my man-crush, let’s get started…
Continue reading »
Like many of the inspirational people I’ve been chatting with over the last few weeks, I discovered Isa on Twitter. I visited her site out of curiosity and I was absorbed by the playful style and sumptuous colours of her work. I read that she had a business background and I was interested in talking to her about whether her business savvy helped her to ‘make it’ as an artist.
However, over the course of our chat I discovered that there is a lot more to Isa Zapata. I won’t spoil it… you can find out for yourself… Continue reading »
There are many eccentrics in this world. They are always fascinating, though some contribute more to society than others. Some express their eccentricity in self-centred ways, by driving around in tanks like Aphex twin or trucks like Chris Eubank. Other express their eccentricity in community focused ways.
Today’s chat is with Matthew Crenshaw, who divides his time between gardening, and making internet transmitters that attach to household pets. Matthew set up a business called Hydr0 Source LLC, as a vehicle to let him ‘build things with friends’. You can check out his stuff as Petputer.com.
I’m inspired by Matthew because of his love for what he does, and his belief in using his passions to create a better world. Will it work? Is it useful to have an ‘internet of animals’? Let’s find out…
Continue reading »
Today’s chat is with Alex, who I am proud to say is my oldest friend. Alex has gone through a tremendous amount in his life. He’s lived through some very tough experiences, but he has also spent a good portion of the last few years sunning himself in Brazil, so it hasn’t been all bad…
After studying history at university Alex decided to completely redirect his life and become a professional football coach. He’s done an enormous amount of voluntary coaching, usually doing at least 10 hours per week on the pitch along side a full time job, not to mention the hours of study, the hundreds of games he’s meticulously analysed, and the shelves of books he’s read on the subject. Recently his hard work has begun to pay off. After working with the internationally renowned Santos football club in Brazil as a voluntary coach he’s now landed a paid job coaching at league two club Oxford United.
I thought this would be a good moment to have a chat with him, as he’s just made this tricky jump to being a paid coach. I see great things in Alex’s future, because I know that he has the mindset for success. He is always happy… and I mean always. I’ve never known anyone who can stay so cheery in the face of difficulty, and I wanted to know how he does it. So here goes…
Continue reading »
Ruth is another one of my girlfriend’s friends. I remember when she left university to focus on singing about 4 years ago, which struck me as pretty bold, and what I’ve seen since then is a level of dedication and grit which I have found very inspirational.
As you’ll read below, Ruth has put herself through a tremendous amount in order to follow her passion for music, but it seems to have paid off. In the few short years since making music her life she has worked with directors from the Royal Academy of Music, Opera North and the ENO, with credits that include Beatrice (Beatrice and Benedict), Meg Page (Falstaff) and ‘Ottavia’ (L’incoronazione di Poppea) with Morley Opera; chorus for Hampstead Garden Opera’s production of ‘L’Orfeo di Montiverdi’; and the roles of ‘Susanna’, ‘Gretal’, ‘Zerlina’ and ‘Cherubino’ with the Highgate Musiki Singers.
So let’s get stuck in…..
Continue reading »
: An Inspirational Opera Singer)
Alex Mathers is a bit of a guru. He currently runs two successful websites, the first, Ape On The Moon, takes a look at contemporary illustration around the world. His second site Red Lemon Club, helps creative people to promote themselves and make a living.
The thing is, when we met we were both stuck behind desks, working in the same office. We both had dreams of escaping and following our own paths, but at the time they were just ideas. Alex has been an inspiration in making his dream a reality. Lets find out a bit more about how he’s done that:
Continue reading »
Something Free…
