THIS HALLoWEEN, ENTER THE SHADOWLANDS…

Join me to peel back the thin veil between worlds and illuminate the darkness of the season. Shadowlands | Illuminate the Darkness is an all new 30-day Writing Challenge, inspired by Carl Jung’s Archetypes and the universal themes of storytelling, to help you put pen to paper every day in November.

At the heart of all storytelling, there are narratives so deeply resonant of the shared human experience that we never tire of hearing them.

Plato described them as ‘forms of intuition’; Swiss psychologist Carl Jung called them Archetypes — a rich tapestry of patterns and symbols woven through the collective unconscious, offering a template for understanding human behaviour.

From Homer’s Odyssey to George Lucas’ Star Wars, we are endlessly enthralled by the exploits of these archetypes — The Hero, The Magician, The Innocent, The Mother, The Outlaw etc. — as they embark on hazardous quests and fall prey to the seductions of the Dark Side.

Join me this November to explore the universal themes of Jung’s archetypes and their legacy in literature, art and pop culture. Together, we will harness the power of opposites and learn to balance light and the dark in your own writing.

BOOK YOUR SPOT ON SHADOWLANDS 30-DAY WRITING CHALLENGE

BENEFITS OF THE WRITING CHALLENGE:

• Make a daily commitment to your writing.
• Find new focus, inspiration and motivation.
• Embrace the blank page and quiet the voice of your inner critic.
• Experiment with fresh styles and subjects.
• Connect with a supportive community.
• Write at a time and a pace that suits you.

HOW DOES THE WRITING CHALLENGE WORK?

Each day you’ll receive an email with a writing prompt or creative task, example poems, writing tips plus oodles of inspiration. Set aside 15 minutes to free-write around the prompt or do the task. Don’t worry about whether it is good or bad; enjoy playing with ideas and trying something new.

If you enjoy working as part of a community, there is also a Facebook option, where you can post your piece, an extract or an update on how you’re getting on with the task. The group receives encouragement and support by reading and responding to each other’s work.

And in addition to the usual prompts, we’ll also welcome special guest Irish poet and writer, Eleanor Hooker, recipient of the Michael Hartnett Award 2022 and the Arts Council Markievicz Award 2021 — who’ll be reading from her latest collection ‘Of Ochre and Ash’ (Dedalus Press, 2021) and chatting about the work of poetry.

At the end of the Challenge, there’s an online group reading — an opportunity to share your work — which is open to everyone who has taken part.

WHO IS THE WRITING CHALLENGE SUITABLE FOR?

The 30 day writing events are designed to suit writers at all levels. Originally, they were created with the beginner or emerging writer in mind – the daily prompts are jam-packed with ideas to stimulate your imagination and get you writing each day.

However, we also have experienced writers who enjoy taking part in the challenges as a way to shift focus after working on other projects, to shake up their writing routine or to generate new project ideas.

The asynchronous nature of the challenge also makes it ideal for neurodivergent writers.

DO YOU OFFER DISCOUNTED RATES?

Yes, there are a number of free places available for low income and under-represented writers — click on the button below and go to the FAQs for more details. Scholarship applications are welcome until Friday 28 October 2023.

Or join my mailing list to receive early bird discounted access to writing events.

For more information and to book, click the button below.

BOOK YOUR SPOT ON SHADOWLANDS 30-DAY WRITING CHALLENGE

All the details are at the link and if you have any questions, please drop me a line and I’ll be happy to help.

“The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light
in the darkness of mere being.”

Carl Jung

Join the Summer Fling: 30 DAYS OF PLay WRITING Event in August 2023

Next month, I’ll be bringing the larks and fun with an all new 30-day writing event — Summer Fling: 30 Day’s of Play, kicking off on 1 August 2023. If you’d like to kick up your heels and indulge in a little creative playtime, this is your chance! Research shows that embracing our playfulness boosts self-confidence, sharpens problem-solving and communication skills, hones adaptability and resilience, and improves mental and emotional wellbeing. In short, it transforms our quality of life. The word ‘play’ comes from the Old English pleg(i)an meaning ‘to exercise’, and plega meaning ‘brisk movement’, both of which are related to the Middle Dutch word pleien meaning ‘to leap for joy, to dance’. In modern English, play covers everything from childhood activity, sport and exercise, games and gambling, to musical and dramatic performance. For Summer Fling | 30 Days of Play, we’ll be reconnecting with our inner child, embracing the beginner’s mindset and trying out lots of new ideas in our writing, just for the fun of it. It’s the perfect way to shake up your writing routine, break out of a rut, clear a writing block, or simply let loose on the page! In addition to the usual prompts, creative exercises, images, music and writing tips, we’ll also welcome special guest UK poet and artist, Helen Ivory, whose practice includes everything from painting to collage to felting — she’ll be treating us to work from ‘Wunderkammer: New & Selected Poems’ (Mad Hat Press, 2023), and chatting about bringing a sense of playfulness to our work. There are a number of free places available for low income and under-represented writers — click on the link below and go to the FAQs for more details. Scholarship applications are welcome until 20 July 2023. For more information and to book, go to Summer Fling: 30 Day’s of Play on the Wordbox website. If you haven’t taken part before, the 30-Day Writing event is the ideal accompaniment to a daily writing practice, with bite-sized daily exercises, inspiration, opportunity to explore, and a supportive and encouraging community of writers in the private Facebook group. For those of you using this time to send your work out, there are still plenty of opportunities available in the July Poetry Competitions, Submissions & Opportunities list! I completely understand that this might not be the right timing for you to take part and that’s OK. Nurture your creative self in any way you can – DO WHAT YOU LOVE – play, read, make art, make something with your hands, knit, sew, mend, grow seeds, bring something new into the world this August. If you’d like to join in the fun, all the information is on the website – just click the link below for details – and if you have any questions, please drop me a line.

Sign me up for the Summer Fling: 30 days of PLAY!

Black Lives Matter: What Can I Do As a Writer?

For those of you waiting for the new list of poetry competitions, writing submissions and opportunities open or with deadlines in June 2020, it will be published tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.

I’ve held it back a day for #BlackOutTuesday – to show respect for the death of George Floyd, highlight the senseless loss of black lives due to police brutality and protest the disturbing use of state force against the citizens of the US right now.

We all live in a world shaped by racism and now more than ever, we need to acknowledge and understand that Black Lives Matter. This quote from a 2014 essay by Scott Woods is particularly resonant.

In immediate response to the murder of George Floyd, here’s a great summary of direct action options from Black Lives Matter.

If you want to better understand the issues surrounding racism, the POC Online Classroom is curated by and for people of colour and has a fantastic database of reading and resources, including articles, essays and poems on everything from identity to organizing to self care with writing by Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, Langston Hughes, Marlon James, Angel Nafis and more. Here are a few relevant sections to check out:

• White supremacy & empire

• Prisons, police, and state violence

• Self care, mental health and healing for people of color and within activist movements

I’ve been thinking about how I could better educate myself and help amplify black voices within the literary community. If you feel as helpless as I do and want to know what you can do to take a stand against racism, here are some of the things I’m pledging to:

1. Make a donation – to the family of George Floyd, to Black Lives Matter, to Reclaim the Block who work to make communities like George’s safer, without police intervention, or to Minnesota Freedom Fund to help with bail funds for protesters who have been arrested. In Ireland, you can tackle racism by supporting MASI (Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland) or MERJ (Migrant & Ethnic-Minorities for Reproductive Justice). Petition your local TDs and councillors to end Direct Provision. If you are in the UK, check out this poem and list of resources by poet, Salena Godden.
2. Educate myself. Do the work to understand the insidious nature of racism and how it impacts on everyone’s lives. None of us are free from its impact, as Scott Woods explains above. Don’t ask black friends or colleagues to do this work for me. The information is widely available. There are lots of resources being shared under the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter and Instagram right now. Here are a few ideas to get started:
   • How to Be an Anti-Racist, Ibram X. Kendi;
   • This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work, Tiffany Jewell;
   • Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Reni Eddo-Lodge;
   • Me and White Supremacy, Layla F. Saad;
   • Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehesi Coates;
   • So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo;
   • This thread on racism in Ireland by Dr. Justine Akase.
3. Support the work of black writers and poets. As a writer, read and share their work. Here are some great books to get started:
   • Citizen, Claudia Rankine;
   • Don’t Call Us Dead, Danez Smith;
   • Incendiary Art, Patricia Smith;
   • The Evidence of Things Not Seen, James Baldwin (pretty much anything by Baldwin);
   • White Teeth, Zadie Smith;
   • The Black Flamingo, Dean Atta;
   • Don’t Touch My Hair, Emma Dibiri;
   • This Hostel Life, Melatu Uche Okorie;
   • Correspondences: An Anthology to Call for an End to Direct Provision, ed. Stephen Rea and Jessica Traynor;
   • The Jhalak Prize is also a great reference point for recent work by British BAME writers.
4. Amplify. I actively seek out and highlight submission opportunities for Black writers, as well as other marginalised groups, in my monthly poetry list but am painfully aware how few journals and competitions make their work a priority. As an editor or publisher, please ensure your submissions policy is inclusive toward black and other marginalised groups of writers. Make space for their voices.
5. Listen. Who am I following on social media? Whose voices and experiences am I paying attention to? Am I only listening to voices and experiences that chime with my own? Break out of the echo chamber. Accept that my opinion is neither relevant nor necessary in every conversation.
6. Know that I will make mistakes. Know that those closest to me will make mistakes and some will not be interested in doing the work. Don’t dig in behind these errors. Learn from them. Apologise and pledge to do better. Continue to hold myself and others accountable for words or actions that are harmful to others. Do this with compassion.

Will you join me?

Don’t forget, when buying books, please try and support local, independent and/or black-owned bookshops. 

For some poetry to read right now, here’s a great compilation of Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment by Poetry Foundation. It includes one of my all-time favourite poems: Rosa Parks by Nikki Giovanni.

…they noticed his stutter and probably understood
why his mother wanted him out of Chicago during the summer
when school was out. Fourteen-year-old Black boys with limps
and stutters are apt to try to prove themselves in dangerous ways
when mothers aren’t around to look after them.

Rosa Parks – Nikki Giovanni

Update: Here’s a fantastic thread of poems and recommended reading by black poets from Luther X. Hughes on Twitter.

Update: Here’s a link to an Antiracist Allyship Starter Pack from Kandice Le Blanc’s post ‘Dear White People, This is What We Want You to Do’, with thanks to writer and editor Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi for sharing on FB.

Update: Here’s a link to Racial Equity Tools: Arts & Culture Strategies, with thanks to Chiamaka, as above, for sharing on FB.

Update: For those who prefer visual materials, Two Thumbs Up: Movies and Documentaries to Use (and Avoid) When Teaching Civil Rights, an article by Hasan Kwame Jeffries at Zinn Education Project, is a great run-down of good, bad and downright ugly documentaries and films covering civil rights history.

I realise this only scratches the surface of a pervasive problem and if you have any other ideas or reading recommendations, please feel free to add them in the comments section below. I’ll keep updating this post as more ideas about useful information come to me.

Featured Image: Black Lives Matter

TIMEY RYMEY: A FREE ONLINE WRITING CHALLENGE FOR POETRY DAY IRELAND 2020

‘Time is a storm in which we are all lost.’ – William Carlos Williams

‘…it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.’ – The Doctor

‘There Will Be Time’ is the theme for Poetry Day Ireland 2020 and to celebrate you’re invited to become Time Lords for the day and explore the phenomenon of Time in all its glory in this FREE online writing challenge!

We are living in the eye of a global storm right now but through poetry we can write the words to change the weather, unravel the wibbly-wobbly bits or find our way home.

The rules of the challenge are simple. 

• Read the Time-themed prompts and poems.

• Listen to the Time-themed tunes.

• Write for 15 minutes.

• Share your poem in the Facebook group.

• Read and respond to other posted work.

Most of all, be creative and enjoy yourself!

how do i join the writing challenge?

Here’s what to do:

• Sign up for the FREE challenge on Eventbrite by clicking the button below.

• Join the Timey Rhymey Challenge Facebook group on 29 April.

• Get ready to enjoy a day of Timey Rhymey poetry writing fun!

What are you waiting for? Click here to sign up:

join the Timey Rhymey Poetry Day Ireland 2020 Challenge!

The group opens on the 29 April, with a welcome, introductions and time-related stuff to get you in the mood for writing.

The challenge proper kicks off on Thursday 30 April for Poetry Day Ireland 2020, with poet Angela T. Carr sharing new prompts and inspiration throughout the day.

This event is hosted in conjunction with Poetry Ireland as part of their Bright Ideas programme for Poetry Ireland Day 2020.

what’s next?

Please share the challenge on social media with the hashtags #PoetryIrelandDay #ThereWillBeTime #TimeyRhymey.

Don’t forget to tag me @adreamingskin and @poetryireland (Twitter & Instagram).

#WeMadeHistory

The people of Ireland have voted YES for marriage equality — regardless of sexuality — in a public referendum, with one of the largest turnouts in voting history; we are the first country in the world to make this choice by popular vote.

I’ve never been prouder to be Irish.

The escalating momentum of #hometovote, over the past couple of days, with Irish men and women abroad pouring back into the country by train, boat and plane, to ensure their voices were heard, has been extraordinarily moving.

The public outpourings, the crowds at Dublin Castle this afternoon — both in the courtyard and bringing the streets to a standstill outside — as the results were announced, and the inevitable celebrations carrying on well into the night, signal something else: national pride and a return to joy.

Tools of the Writer’s Trade: 7 More Best Books About Writing

I was just having my morning cuppa, today, browsing through Facebook, as you do, and came across Book Riot‘s article on the Best Books About Writing. It includes classics like Natalie Goldberg, Anne Lamott and Julia Cameron – all excellent reads – but it occurred to me that a number of my favourite writing resources were missing. Here, in no particular order, is my add-on list of 7 More Best Books About Writing.

1. On Writing – Stephen King

When ‘On Writing’ was first recommended to me, I hummed and hawed. I’m not a fan of the kind of horror fiction, I automatically associate with the name Stephen King. So, if that’s what you’re thinking right now: STOP. Regardless of whether you are a fan of his writing – and let’s not forget, this is the guy who wrote ‘Shawshank Redemption‘ – there is no denying he is a prolific writer and who better to tell you about writing than a guy who writes lots and lots of books? But more than that, ‘On Writing’ is both intriguing memoir of a writer and a no-nonsense, practical advice about writing, by someone who knows how. Forget everything you think you know about Stephen King – this is a ESSENTIAL READ for writers.

 

2. Becoming a Writer – Dorothea Brande

Probably the first book about writing I ever read – a stalwart companion of the beginner’s creative writing class – and still relevant 80 years after publication, so deservedly, a classic. Practical and inspirational, Brande is a gracious and encouraging tutor, using the writers of her period – Virgina Woolfe, E.M. Forster, Edith Wharton – to draw out the writer within. A great place for all aspiring writers to start, and to refer back to in establishing a writing practice.

3. 52 Ways of Looking at a Poem – Ruth Padel

’52 Ways Of Looking At A Poem’ is drawn from Ruth Padel‘s popular ‘Sunday Poem‘ series, in the Independent on Sunday, which set out to de-bunk the myths around poetry as a literary form and open it up to a wider audience. I love her comment about readers who are happy to devour crime and mystery novels where they have no idea what’s going on yet recoil in terror from the same in a poem! In each essay, Padel examines a modern poem and explains its poetic devices, not only making poetry more accessible to the general reader but providing a masterclass on form and construction for the budding poet.

 

4. Self Editing for Fiction Writers – Renni Brown & Dave King

Self Editing for Fiction Writers was recommended by Gerard Donovan, author of Julius Winsome and the Mann Booker long-listed Schopenhauer’s Telescope, at a Faber Academy Short Story Masterclass, in Dublin, alongside short story writer, Claire Keegan. When a respected, published writer pulls a well-worn copy of a book from his or her pocket, waves it in the air and swears by it, you take note. This is the book for the developing or advanced writer who want to make the leap from talented up-and-comer to published author – it covers all the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of writing, that shows a prospective magazine editor or publishing house that you mean business.

 

5. Negotiating With The Dead – Margaret Atwood

I love Margaret Atwood‘s work and when I discovered that she’s written a book about writing, I jumped on it. Negotiating The Dead is derived from a series of lectures on the role of the writer, Atwood gave at Cambridge University in 2000. Each chapter is devoted to a different writing scenario or dilemma, illuminated by anecdotes from Atwood‘s own experiences as a writer plus a wealth of literary quotes.

 

 

6. Ways of Seeing – John Berger

“Seeing comes before words.”

Not a traditional book about writing but arguably something even more fundamental to a writer – a book about how we view the world. Ways of Seeing is made up of a series of visual essays, exploring and critiquing the hidden language of art and imagery; companion to a BBC series of the same name – still available to view online and well worth the effort. Although dating from the early 1970’s, with the advertising images (not to mention politics) definitely showing their age, the message holds true, drawing a trajectory from the oil painting to the instant imagery of advertising and pointing directly on toward pop culture and the visual overload of the digital age.

7. The Writing Life – Annie Dillard

“I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as a dying friend. I hold its hand and hope it will get better.”

An undisputed classic, Pulitzer Prize-winner Dillard‘s take on the writer’s life does not pull any punches, making it clear that writing is sheer bloody hard work, not a lifestyle choice. Yet, it is not without its rewards and if you choose to climb the mountain, there is no better guide. This is the book to read before you leave your job / husband or sell your car / house in your quest to become a writer.

 

 

Of course, no list of books about writing could ever be complete. Do you have any favourites not mentioned here? What books on writing do you go back to for inspiration? Whose advice do you swear by? Leave a comment with your recommendations!

Book Cover Photography: Jana Heimanis

Ever since I began promoting the launch of my debut poetry collection, I’ve been receiving compliments for the beautiful book cover photography and I thought it was high time I introduced the woman behind the photo: Jana Heimanis.

Jana is an inveterate globe-trotter, taking photos wherever she goes; when she posted pics from a trip to Iceland, I saw the image above and something clicked.

I’ve talked before about what makes a good book cover and, as I started to think about what the cover of my own book should be, asked other writers about their thoughts on this part of the publishing process. Yvonne Cullen, poet and creative writing teacher extraordinaire, gave me a beautiful benchmark for what a book cover should do:

“The key in my mind… is a sense that image plus book equal more than the sum of their parts. The reader has to go somewhere, imaginatively… ideally, right into the emotional landscape of the book, to join image and title together.”

For me, Jana’s image does just that – capturing the sense of loss at the heart of the collection but also reminding us that in the bleakest of moments, there is the potential for great beauty. Although taken in Iceland, people keep recognising parts of Ireland in it and I love that it has a universal quality that speaks to everyone.

Originally from Sydney, Australia, I met Jana through mutual friends, from working at the same architectural practice in Dublin (but at different times) and I’ve always loved her spirit of adventure.

So I asked her to tell us a little bit more about herself – work, travel, photography and, of course, poetry.

Jana, tell us a little bit about your background:

I trained as an Australian architect at the University of Sydney, and the University of Newcastle (the one in Australia). Worked in Sydney for several years in small architecture firms on local jobs and large firms on foreign jobs. Found my way to Dublin, spent three months architecturally drafting, then was recruited by a dear friend, met fashion designer, John Rocha, and began a working collaboration that has lasted ten years.

How did you start taking photographs?

It probably started with holidays in Australia, bookended by (mostly long) road trips – the world framed by the back-seat window. Photography is most certainly a part of travel for me. I travel solo a lot, both for work and for curiosity’s sake. Taking photos is a bit like having a traveling companion, like pointing out the new things, funny things, beautiful and different things ‘hey, check that out’.

Also my training and work, being about detail and beautiful things, has a huge influence on what catches my eye – I like to put composition, texture, colour, and a story in the frame.

What do you love about photography?

I am a bit of a point and shooter, I like the simplicity of it. I have a good digital camera, with a nice lens and a zippy zoom, and some other features I’m not that au fait with. I love that I can use that simple tool to collect images that work. I love that it can be accidental, that moment, or place. I love creating a composition that satisfies, is possibly beautiful, is balanced, hints at a conversation, tells a story without words.

What’s your favourite place from your travels?

This year I had a number of wonderful road/train trips. Iceland was spectacular, icy and remote and just awesome – your photo is from the very North of the country, a farm that found itself sunk lower than the water table after one of the frequent earthquakes that happen when there are volcanoes around. Here in Australia, I took the smaller roads from Sydney to Melbourne and back via the Great Ocean Road. Other favourite places – Kyoto (temples, the buses, kimonos along the river at dusk), Istanbul (mosques, snakes in jars, markets, carpets, sensory overload), Leon, Sevilla, Cork, Berlin… sure, I find discovering a new city to be very exciting.

You must have have some good travel stories…

So many, and I’m not a good teller of stories… Some snippets? Sharing a stranger’s sandwich on a train in Poland because he wasn’t convinced my plain bread roll was ‘lunch’; rowing a boat in the Arctic circle off the coast of Norway; hitch-hiking to avoid rambling bulls in Latvia….can we say that my pictures tell better stories? Instagram has a few of my latest tales…

I know you’re also a reader of poetry – any Aussie favourites we should check out?

Banjo Patterson – a classic. Responsible for Waltzing Matilda, but I like him for Been there Before, and Clancy of the Overflow. Gwen Harwood and Paul Kelly – ok, he’s a songwriter and musician, but I reckon he’s a poet.

————————-

Discover more of Jana Heimanis’ beautiful travel photography on Instagram or at her forthcoming web-site: www.jana.net.au.

All photographs © Jana Heimanis.

 

 

Mslexia Poetry Competition 2014: After The Storm – The Story of a Poem

Back in September – yes, I am woefully slow at reportage, one of many reasons I am a poet, not a journalist – I had a poem published in Mslexia, the UK literary magazine for women who write. The poem, After The Storm, was selected as a finalist in the Mslexia Poetry Competition 2014, judged by poet, Wendy Cope.

People often ask where ideas for poems come from and this one I remember quite clearly.

I was in Gothenburg, Sweden, kipping on the sofa of a friend’s house-swap – a top floor flat, six flights up, next to a monument on a hill, surrounded by trees. It was early July, thunderous, all the windows flung wide to gather scraps of fresh air.

As I lay there in the darkness, the wind got up and tree shadows scurried across the ceiling, lit by street lamps; it seemed as though they had invaded the room, the hallway, the kitchen, the attic overhead.

Too lazy to get up and search for pen and paper, I fumbled at the coffee table for my phone and by its tepid glow tapped out a draft text: “The trees are children running through the house.” Then turned over and went to sleep.

In the morning, I found the text and the seed was planted.

My Swedish jaunt was very productive on the poetry front – I came home with the bones of 4 or 5 poems laid down. Sometimes, you just need to step out of familiar surroundings to open the door to new ideas.

The ending was prompted by another poem I’d read – I can’t remember the name of the poet or poem, sadly (Reasons I’m Not A Journalist #573) but the image that stayed with me was one of absence, in the dent of a pillow where someone had lain, and it was the sense of emptiness as a concrete presence I wanted to evoke at the end.

Mslexia holds a very special place in my heart, as the first print magazine to publish my work, when I came second in their inaugural Mslexia Short Story competition, in 2009. I can still remember the phone call: I shot out of my chair and performed an arrhythmic celebration in the medium of dance around the kitchen, to the utter disdain of the neighbour’s cat, lounging on the window cill.

It’s a beautiful journal, with lots of valuable, practical advice for writers and I was delighted when the latest issue hit my doorstep. I’ve sent work to the poetry competition in the past and this is the first time I’ve made the cut – one of 20 final poems out of 2000+ entries. Wendy Cope talks of her process for choosing the winning poems on the Mslexia competition page and also provided feedback for all the finalists in the print edition:

“It isn’t easy to describe a storm in a poem because it is such a familiar subject; I can’t help thinking of Ted Hughes’ ‘This house has been far out at sea all night’. But Angela T Carr has found her own way of doing it in ‘After the Storm’ without sounding derivative. This is another poem about bereavement. The quiet after the storm suggests the quiet after the funeral, when the person left behind has to ‘fold around’ the new emptiness.”

Yup, I’ll take that. Thank you, Wendy!

After the Storm is included in my debut collection launching in Dublin, next week.

Monday Inspiration: Steal Like an Artist

Writer and artist, Austin Kleon‘s list of 10 things he wishes he’d been told when he started out on the creative path.

(Via Brainpickings)