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Darren

The clouded beach on a Wordless Wednesday

June 1, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

I loved the shapes the clouds were making the other day at the beach. I then ran this image through the HDR filters on Photoshop… I quite like the enhancements so I thought I would share them.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: beach, clouds, photoshop, Wordless Wednesday

Using Box as a Weekly Creative Prompt

April 24, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

box - weekly creative prompt

It’s springtime and like many others, I have been tidying, sorting and clearing things out. As a consequence of this spring cleaning, piles of boxes have been moved, used and emptied. And, of course, that has got me thinking creatively about these containers and their metaphorical meaning.

This week’s creative prompt is box. Each week we begin with a single word and expand it to inspire writing fiction, journaling and other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some inspiration for creative work, personal development and even a little self-care.

The word box can mean and be used in many things. It is the sort of word that has literal, practical uses, but also has metaphorical and even spiritual connotations. It is a business cliche to ‘think outside the box’ and is often used by businesses in the wrong way leading to a move away from their core aim. However, for creativity, thinking outside of the box, or the rules, is what makes genius art.

Definitions include…

box — a container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid, an area on a page that is to be filled in or that contains separate printed matter, a separate section or enclosed area reserved for a group of people, a protective casing for a piece of a mechanism

— verb: put in or provide with a box

Box has an additional meaning to hit, or fight, using hands or fists. It’s not really what I had in mind for a creative prompt. However, sometimes the only way out of a situation, especially creative ruts, is to fight or let off some steam, to punch something even if that punch is metaphorical.

Box can be used as a noun and verb

Box, boxed

Related

carton, pack, packet, package; case, crate, chest, trunk, coffer, casket, hamper, canteen; bin, drum, canister; container, receptacle, repository, holder, vessel, booth, cubicle, kiosk, cabin, hut; enclosure, compartment, carrel, cupboard, cubbyhole, alcove, bay, recess, and package, pack, parcel, wrap, bundle, bale, crate, stow, store, put away

Antonyms

unbox, open

box is summed up for me as a container, either wanted or not.

Let the prompt ‘box’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:

  • writing fiction
  • journaling
  • art journaling
  • songwriting
  • photography
  • painting
  • composing
  • blog posts
  • art therapy
  • anything that could use a little nudge to begin

Writing prompt

I had no idea what was inside. However, I began to remove the box’s lid. - fiction writing prompt

A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word box to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore. It’s time to let your creative writing skills free.

I had no idea what was inside. However, I began to remove the box’s lid.

Writing Prompt Expanded

As part of my spring clean, I have been putting things into boxes. Each box is even a nice label so I know exactly what’s in it. I have a habit of forgetting what I have and where it is, therefore boxes and labels are my friends. I know what I have stored.

Our protagonist doesn’t. A box could contain a treasure or something else. Let’s explore…

  • What size and shape is the box?
  • Why don’t they know what it contains, have they just found it?
  • How d they feel as they lift the lid?

Apart from a box with unknown contents, everything else is down to you, the writer. The prompt is in the first person, but you can change that if you want. The contents of the box could be anything, let your imagination run. As mentioned it could be treasure, it could be dangerous, it could be something seemingly unknowable, remember Pandora!

Enjoy and may the contents of the box lead you to write an inspiring tale. Bring the contents and your ideas outside the box.

Quick fiction writing

Set a time limit, use the following random prompts and write a short piece of fiction.

  • Character: child
  • Place: playground
  • Item: surrounded by a box marked in chalk

Journal prompt

I often use boxes in my journal. They are used to highlight important things. They are used to separate areas, to make them distinct. I also find myself writing the same thing. Quite often I am writing negative things over and over again. I end up putting myself in a box, defining and limiting myself. Next time I do that, I’ll contain those negative thoughts in lines. I’ll box them up and then cross them out with a big black marker. Time to get outside self-made boxes that limit us.

Three ideas for your journal

  • think about your articular creative pastime. How can you think outside the box and create differently. Write a list that breaks the rules
  • draw, paint or collage an image made entirely of box shapes (literal cubism, or boxism)
  • draw a box in the centre of your page, write negative thoughts, feelings or habits within. Cover it with a positive image

Theory of General Creativity

I now have ‘box’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. I am involved in far too many creative projects. I find zoning them and putting them into literal boxes helps me to focus on one at a time. And I now have all my pens, paints and other creative tools in their own box or area. That should help.

  • capture boxes or square/rectangle shapes and lines with your camera
  • paint a cube with something inside
  • explore escaping any boxes that contain and hold you back in songwriting or poetry

Let ‘box(es)’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.

Finally…

As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, a moment in your journal, something a little more grandiose or any creative project or idea.

As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: creative prompt, ideas, journal prompt, prompt, weekly creative prompt, writing prompt

Clouds above on a Wordless Wednesday

April 20, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

clouds in the sky

The things you see when out on a walk.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: clouds, photo, Wordless Wednesday

Waves Weekly creative prompt

April 10, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

I have the amazing privilege of living within walking distance of the sea. If I need to reconnect with nature I can be standing next to the untamed wilderness of the ocean in minutes. I can be face to face with its beauty and its danger.

This week’s creative prompt is waves. Each week we begin with a single word and expand it to inspire writing fiction, journaling and other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some inspiration for creative work, personal development and even a little self-care.

The word waves can mean many things. It can be the waves upon the water, a friendly gesture or a way of upsetting the status quo. All variations on frequencies and ripples in different settings and situations. And if we think in terms of frequencies, then everything we can see is down to waves.

Definitions include…

wave (singular of waves)

— verb: move one’s hand to and fro in greeting or as a signal, move (one’s hand or arm, or something held in one’s hand) to and fro, convey (a greeting or other message), instruct (someone) to move in a particular direction by moving one’s hand, move to and fro with a swaying motion

— noun: a long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore, a ridge of water between two depressions in open water, a shape regarded as resembling a breaking wave, a sudden occurrence of or increase in a phenomenon, feeling, or emotion, a periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance

Wave(s) can be used as a verb and noun

Related

move to and fro, move up and down, wag, waggle; swing, shake, swish, sweep, swipe, brandish, flourish, flaunt, wield, flick, flutter, ripple, flutter, undulate, stir, flap, sway, swing, waft, shake, quiver, oscillate, move, gesture, gesticulate, signal, sign, beckon, indicate, motion, nod, bid, vibration, oscillation, undulation.

Antonyms

stillness, calm, unmoving, static

waves, for me, are something moving, there is motion.

Let the prompt ‘waves’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:

  • writing fiction
  • journaling
  • art journaling
  • songwriting
  • photography
  • painting
  • composing
  • blog posts
  • art therapy
  • anything that could use a little nudge to begin

Writing prompt

A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word waves to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore. It’s time to let your creative writing skills free.

I face the Waves, but would I cross them or be engulfed?

Writing Prompt Expanded

When I look at the sea I can feel so much potential. There is energy from the waves themselves, the thoughts of travelling across them and the danger of riptides and currents. When I look at the waves I feel inspired.

That’s what inspired this prompt. We begin with the waves in front of your protagonist and their potential. Let’s explore…

  • Why is the character looking at the waves?
  • What has led them to this point in their life?
  • Are the waves literal or metaphorical?

The context for this prompt is entirely up to you. It is set in the first person as this can make it easier to describe feelings and emotions, however, feel free to change this. The challenge here is to capture and describe the two potential outcomes, one positive and the other not so, from the perspective of the protagonist.

Enjoy and may the words wash upon the page like waves upon the shore.

Quick fiction writing

Set a time limit, use the following random prompts and write a short piece of fiction.

  • Character: albatross
  • Place: above the ocean
  • Item: floating branch

Journal prompt

I am a bit of a worrier. When I stand on the beach and see the waves I can let the feelings of being overwhelmed and the fear of the unknown take hold. Exploring my fears and worries in my journal often follows a visit to the beach. And journaling is the perfect place to dream of travelling across the waves to distant shores and lands where dreams become realities. Again, either literal or metaphorical.

Three ideas for your journal

  • explore your metaphorical waves that appear before your dreams
  • draw, paint or collage a representation of waves
  • draw wavy lines and make them into a background for your art journal

Theory of General Creativity

I now have ‘waves’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. The uniqueness of each wave is an inspiration, each can have a different frequency or amplitude, an almost limitless range.

  • capture waves with your camera, either on the sea or items waving in the air
  • paint the sea with its waves, but are they calm or wild?
  • explore the building of an emotional wave in songwriting or poetry

Let ‘waves’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.

Finally…

As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, a moment in your journal, something a little more grandiose or any creative project or idea.

As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: creative prompt, ideas, journal prompt, prompt, waves, weekly creative prompt, writing prompt

Spirit Weekly creative prompt

April 3, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

spirit weekly creative prompt

At times, my world, or life, feels a bit like a paradox. On the one hand, I love science and fact, understanding how and why things work and exist. On the other, I believe in the supernatural, the unseen, the literally unprovable. And it is that unseen aspect that we will explore.

This week’s creative prompt is spirit. Each week we begin with a single word and expand it to inspire writing fiction, journaling and other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some inspiration for creative work, personal development and even a little self-care.

Spirit means many things, as can be seen below. Yet the main aspect I want to explore is its unseen nature, and how close the unseen and the seen really are.

When Paul writes in the New Testament (Galatians 5:22–23) about the Spirit, an unseen entity, he explains that although the Spirit can’t be seen, its fruits or its practical application in life is visible. The unseen and the seen are a lot closer than we think. It’s the same in most belief systems, through both good and evil actions.

And spirit isn’t limited to religion. The word is used in business, sport and other activities to inspire actions and make choices.

spirit, spirits, spirited

Definitions

spirit — noun

  • the non-physical part of a person
  • a supernatural being: shrines to nature spirits
  • the prevailing or typical quality, mood, or attitude of a person, group, or period of time
  • a person’s prominent quality or with their role in a group or movement
  • a person’s mood
  • a person’s attitude
  • the quality of courage, energy, and determination
  • the real meaning or intention behind something

verb; (spirits, spiriting, spirited) convey rapidly and secretly

Spirit can be an Individual or mass noun and is used with or without an adjective. It also has a related verb.

Related

soul, psyche, inner self, inner being, essential being, ego, id, ka, atman, life force, animating principle, vital spark, breath of life, ghost, phantom, spectre, apparition, wraith, shadow, presence, temperament, disposition, character, nature, personality, complexion, mind, heart, attitude, real/true meaning, essence, substance.

Antonyms

body, flesh

spirit is summed up for me as something unseen. And I believe it can be both personal and inanimate.

Let the prompt ‘spirit’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:

  • writing fiction
  • journaling
  • art journaling
  • songwriting
  • photography
  • painting
  • composing
  • blog posts
  • art therapy
  • anything that could use a little nudge to begin

Writing prompt

"That's the spirit," they said. Little did they know what spirit was leading me.. @darrenrhill - fiction writing prompt

A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word spirit to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore. It’s time to let your creative writing skills free.

“That’s the spirit,” they said. Little did they know what spirit was leading me..

Writing Prompt Expanded

I wanted something fun and open for this writing prompt. Although the speech and response are quite direct, the context isn’t. We touch on an action of some sort and an unseen reason why our protagonist, who is also our narrator, is acting this way.

That’s what this prompt is all about, explaining how and why someone is acting in a certain way. So let’s explore.

  • What is the setting?
  • What is the action?
  • What spirit is behind it all?

The context for this prompt is entirely up to you. You could go down the supernatural route of unseen angels or demons, jinns or other animistic beings. Or, another more literal spirit in the form of alcohol. There is also the possibility of a previous event that leads to feelings being revisited, creating a spirit of fear or anxiety or bravery.

Enjoy and may the spirit of literary creativity enable your words to flow on the page.

Quick fiction writing

Set a time limit, use the following random prompts and write a short piece of fiction.

  • Character: ghost
  • Place: kitchen
  • Item: closed diary

Journal prompt

Sitting down and writing in a journal is an important part of my day. I look back and review what I have done. I do my best to think about why I have done something. What was driving me? Why did I do this or that? What was the spirit within prompting and inspiring? The reason for this is to try to understand the reasons and then change my actions for the better if needed… and that is quite often.

Three ideas for your journal

  • explore why you did a particular action today
  • draw, paint or collage a representation of spirit
  • draw a tree, give it a living soul or spirit.. does it smile?

Theory of General Creativity

I now have ‘spirit’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. Life is a mix of seen and unseen things; creativity is a mix of unseen inspiration within and its seen creation.

  • capture some clouds with your camera as the spirit of the wind blows them across the sky
  • what colour represents your own spirit… paint it
  • what unseen emotions drive your songwriting or poetry?

Let ‘spirit’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.

Finally…

As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, a moment in your journal, something a little more grandiose or any creative project or idea.

As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.


Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: creative prompt, ideas, journal prompt, prompt, spirit, weekly creative prompt, writing prompt

New Plant Baby on a Wordless Wednesday

March 30, 2022 by Darren Leave a Comment

plant on windowsill

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest

Filed Under: Photography Tagged With: iPhone, photo, plant, Wordless Wednesday

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