Guest Blogger No. 3 - Joanna Brown - On Creativity

Further to her first guest post, here's the second from my sister, Joanna:

On Creativity

The only (I’m going to admit it) Salmon Rushdie book I’ve read is a children’s book called ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories’. That said, this book is of crucial value due to its allegory on the importance of free speech. The title character’s father Rashid, a storyteller to trade, looses the ability to tell stories; his story stream is literally turned off. The man responsible for this is the ruler Khattam-Shud who is described as ‘the arch-enemy of all stories, even of Language itself’. Thus follows a fantastical adventure in which Haroun battles to save his father’s stories.

It’s got me thinking about my own story stream, my own ideas tap. My ideas don’t come to me emblazoned in neon lights. They come whimpering along and, if I’m not quick, disappear before I’ve caught them.

Despite knowing that ideas aren’t everything I am profoundly jealous of those people who seem to have a million ideas. (Don’t think I’m exaggerating, those people exist. Their ideas come from inspiration thunder bolts. They really do.)

But rather than wasting time grumbling I’d do well to face up to the facts.

I do have a tap although admittedly it drips more than it gushes. It’s not really in my brain so much as in my pen, or perhaps less romantically, in my laptop keyboard. Yet despite knowing that my ideas only really start fermenting when I write them down I’m really bad at sitting down to write.

It’s due to a mixture of things- a lack of time perhaps, a lack of confidence, laziness and perhaps a bit of self- censorship. Often I knock ideas down when they’re just starting to crawl. And to continue the baby metaphor, I forget to nurture them and wait for them to grow. If they’re not there ready packaged (not that I suggest we package up our babies) I’m not interested.

I feel like I’m waiting for the big idea: the one which will come fully formed screaming at me down the street, the one which will be perfect and won’t need any hard graft.

It’s not going to happen, is it?

No.

Because writing is work, painting is work. Any kind of creative act needs time and effort. An architect can have the idea for a house but a client won’t be happy until the house is built. An artist is the architect, the builder and all else in between. Ideas are great but they don’t really exist, do they?

There’s a lot of pressure on the arts at the moment. The effect of the arts cuts are making themselves known and the now scrapped EBacc proposals has no arts or culture on the curriculum at all. We have our own Khattam-Shud's who would like to silence us. So let’s not make their jobs any easier. Let’s get working. After all, we don’t want to be the ones to mess it up.

Guest Blogger No. 3 - Joanna Brown - A Road Trip for the Mind

You know what it's like:- you wait forever for a guest blog post, and then two come along at once. Further to contributions from Stephen and from my sister Lois, here is the first of two from my other sister Joanna.

 

 

A Road Trip for the Mind

 

I have a soft spot for the American beat generation. It started when my friend Naomi posted a copy of ‘On the Road’ to me with the instruction to read and dream. I read and I did, indeed, dream. It’s a cliché, of course, to dream of the open road but the idea of getting away from it all has a far reaching appeal.

 

Whether it’s Kerouac’s jazz clubs of New Orleans you want or a solitary exploration such as that taken by Christopher McCandless into Alaska, as described in the book ’Into the Wild’ by Jon Krakauer, the idea is fundamentally the same - that one will get away and have nothing to worry about other than what’s straight ahead. I see it as a type of control, a way of keeping life at bay, an ‘I will come towards you life, and I will seek you out on my own terms.’

 

While I still want to do my American Road trip - at the moment I am living vicariously through those who have gone before – I’m currently more interested in whether there is a way of bringing the sense of freedom, whether real or imagined, which comes from travelling into everyday 20th century life.

 

I’m in my bedroom trying to do some work; there are jobs to be applied for, emails to be read. All around me are objects wanting my attention: books, DVDs, a half knitted jersey for my nephew, my guitar. I work full time, make theatre and write so it’s safe to say I feel a little bit overwhelmed at times.

 

Of course, I’m not saying anything that’s not already been said by the thousands of people struggling to find space for life in life itself. And short of running away and living as a hermit – which, of course, will include its own pressures – there is nothing we can do but face up to the fact that there is a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.

 

Moan over, let’s get to the point and put things in perspective. I’m in the privileged position of being able to make choices and these choices are, on the whole, positive. We live in a world of opportunities; with opportunity comes choice and with choice comes an opportunity cost. Maybe we just need to accept that we can’t do everything and be grateful for what we can do.

 

I’m working on it. And writing this is a start. In the time it’s taken I’ve not had a chance to panic about how much I’ve got to do and what I’m not doing. I’ve had my own little journey through the world of words and come out the other end better for it.

 

So let’s try to accept our limitations graciously. We can only do what we can do. And if it all gets too much sometimes, as it no doubt will, just remember that the road trip is only a dream away.

 

Joanna

Guest Blogger No.2 - Lois Brown: The Moaning Moaners who Moan

Some time ago (OK, it was almost a year ago, for those of you who have been counting), I published this piece as the first an occasional series of guest posts. Today, I'm publishing the next guest post by History graduate, IT master and Internationalist, Lois Brown:

The Moaning Moaners who Moan

One of the fascinating things about British people is how much we moan. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we have free healthcare, free education and free speech (which we predictably use to moan about the government), and all we can see is what is wrong with our lives, the country, the whole planet. I thought about this a few weeks ago when at the height of the Edinburgh International Festival, the month long extravaganza that hosts thousands of shows across hundreds of venues and packs out every hotel room, restaurant and pub in the city (and probably every tent too), I overheard this conversation:

American Gentleman: What do you make of the Edinburgh Festival?

Typical Scottish Moaner: Oh, I hate it. Every idiot who thinks he’s a comedian or actor descends on this city. You can’t go anywhere for all the crowds. (He went on for a fair bit longer than this. I am summarising.)

American Gentleman: And what do you make of the tourists?

Typical Scottish Moaner (showing a modicum of tact): Oh they’re OK, I don’t mind them.

I don’t understand this mentality. What’s to hate? How else would a cold, grey city of 300,000 on the northern edge of the inhabited world attract the cream of the world’s talent performs on their doorstep? Imagine Edinburgh without the festival –with no culture, no entertainment and no money.

At the moment, with the banking crisis having decimated the city’s main industry, where else is the money coming from? The Edinburgh Festival brings tourists flooding into the city leaving millions of pounds in their wake. Half the businesses in Edinburgh are kept afloat by that one month of the year allowing us to enjoy them the other 11 months. And then there’s the small matter of pride that such a teeny tiny country can successfully run the biggest arts festival in the world.

But these are all minor considerations when Mr Moaner has to share his streets with performers and visitors.

I’d bet he’d really moan if there was no festival, though.

I think Lois has a point - we do tend to see the problems not the opportunities in all walks of life in Britain. Rather than celebrating what we've got and how fortunate we are in comparison with the vast majority of the world's population, our default position is often to complain about everything from the weather to the price of cheddar. A little more positivity and, if something is broken, positive action is required!

Andrew

Guest Blogger No. 1 - Stephen Chapman

Some time ago, I did a guest blog entry for The State of the Nation UK. Now it's the turn of Stephen to return the favour. He's decided to post on the subject of being English:

The Importance of Being English

I am pleased to be able to contribute as a guest blogger and would like to discuss the silent majority in Britain… the English!

If you ask the owner of this blog where he is from, he will undoubtedly say “Scotland” and could easily enlighten us why he has national pride without embarrassment or the need for justification.

The majority of people living in Britain are English – a varied group of people with many originating from across the globe. Although most are white, a good proportion is of black and Asian origin, but if you look closer and go back just a few generations, the mix is remarkable.

Whatever the original roots, my perception is that the English almost have to apologise before showing any national pride and when they do, they must provide explanation that their views are not racist or against minorities. It’s ludicrous political correctness that benefits nobody and is killing traditions that go back centuries.

National pride can be as simple as celebrating religious and local festivals, supporting the village fete, being part of a local group, getting behind sporting heroes, reveling in our history or flying our nation’s flag. In my opinion, the flag of St George should be flying above every single public building alongside the Union flag, yet has racist connotations due to a small number of evil activists. Let’s take back the flag and connect it with the many many great English achievements that we should be truly proud of.

Having visited Scotland on dozens of occasions (mainly through work commitments), you get a real sense of national pride. It is everywhere, from business names to shop window displays and from local and major events to what people actively say. I am a little jealous that it’s so natural and freely promoted without any PC analysis. It’s not done with a view to put another nation or group down, it’s just ingrained in the national psyche.

Another blogger I read is pro-British and will correct those who overuse “England” and “English” and technically he is correct. However, if you visit to Wales or Scotland it shows how national pride can be a positive and inclusive thing – irrespective of race and religion. Take the loony councils who want to ban the word “Christmas” stating that it may offend minority groups… it offends no-one and simply divides communities! Being fully inclusive allows everyone to enjoy English traditions. And for religious festivals, appreciating what they stand for means that over time, other faiths will be naturally included as part of English tradition.

Minority groups, whether based on racial, religious, sexuality or any other type, actively promote and celebrate their individuality and we must not be afraid to campaign for Englishness despite the local councils only looking to support minorities. I would love to keep our ways alive and welcome all kinds of people into this wealth of history and tradition, but is it possible to engineer such a thing?

Scum like the BNP have got it completely wrong in my opinion. Those that want to maintain traditions and observe Englishness don’t have to be English and anyone can make a contribution to society, so let me make it very clear: this rant is all about inclusion and celebration. It’s great to be British and it’s great to be English.

The English have an outstanding history and number of traditions that are being eroded by local councils, politically correct biased media, schools, racists and even embarrassment. And to end, consider the words of Ray Davies in the Kinks song “Village green preservation society”…

“Preserving the old ways from being abused,
Protecting the new ways for me and for you”

Stephen Chapman