“the more willing I was to hang out in the unknown and show up with a clean slate, an empty bucket, and a blank piece of paper, the more likely it was that something fresh and new would come through me and out into the world. ” Michael Neill Remarkable to realise sometimes, but just … Read more
Sometimes we can feel as though we spend our entire lives looking for clues, looking for paths well trodden. If only we can work out the model that has worked for others who are successful, we should be able to use the same approach and come up with success. This type of thinking can make … Read more
The picture with this post is a fragment of a huge canvas produced by the team I work with from a project we did with the Manchester Camerata earlier this year. If you key in “Creative Learning” into the search box on this blog you will find a series of posts written over the last 18 months … Read more
A couple of weeks ago we went to see a temporary exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral. It was a collection of Drawings of Edward Burne-Jones, the Pre-Raphaelite painter. I was really impressed with the collection of drawings and watercolours by Burne-Jones together with some of the paintings for which … Read more
Doing a PhD is a massive challenge regardless, but when it is carried out part-time the challenge is magnified as we try to fit the research and writing of the thesis in alongside a job, family and broader life. I did my PhD part-time between 1997 and 2004. Unlike full-time students there is little opportunity … Read more
This is a guest post from Taravandana as promised last week. Enjoy: So why am I spending this Sunday evening composing my first blog? Good question. I have been thinking about having a go for months but convinced myself that for one reason or another I wasn’t able to. Of course it’s just been unhelpful … Read more
It was a business dinner. Senior leaders from across the region had been invited. One of them was standing next to me at the pre-dinner drinks, chatting intently. Then he lowered his voice, “I’m not good at this whole schmoozing thing, Stuart. It makes me feel very out of my depth and uncomfortable.” This was … Read more
This is a guest post by Su Fowler-Johnson – her second post on this site. You can see her first post here. I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick. Why we behave the way we do. What is it that drives us to want to be around some people more than others? What … Read more
I have been away for the last couple of weeks for a holiday in Italy. Now as September gets into full stride, schools are starting up again, universities will be underway soon too. The roads will fill with traffic again and from space we will all look like we are rushing around again. How much … Read more
We need to look closely in the present moment. It’s so easy to just walk past, head full of cloudy thoughts of past and future. But… stop for a moment and really look. Then we can see the beauty in front of us. Walking with a camera helps with this. If we have a hammer … Read more