darren r hill

the creative minimalist

Author: Darren

  • Mabon – Looking for Balance in the Equinox

    Mabon sticker in my journal with my other journals

    The festival of Mabon in the revised neopagan year is all about harvest. It is the second or final harvest of the year, so time to eat, drink and be merry… once the fields are cleared. Mabon also falls around the autumnal equinox, in the northern hemisphere. The day when daylight and nighttime are equal, and when the sun rises and sets directly in the east and west, It is a day of total balance and equilibrium.

    What is our harvest in a modern world, where very few of us live directly off the land? One part of me thinks it is time to be grateful for all that I have. For all that has been ‘harvested’ to create the things I consume. This includes the food on my plate to the clothes I wear and the luxury ‘essentials’ that adorn my lifestyle. However, I lose the earthiness of the harvest in such a simple analogy. There is something of nature that the festival of Mabon brings and I can’t quite connect to it at the moment.

    And what a current moment this is. Every aspect of life has been affected by the coronavirus. This year, it feels like there is no harvest. The seasons are merging into one long miasma. Spring, summer and now autumn have felt no different from each other. Lockdowns have meant that even when the sun did shine, travel was limited. The view from a window doesn’t do justice to the awesome cyclical nature the seasons.

    At this equinox, I stop for a brief moment. I sit and contemplate all that has and is happening. As the celestial movements are in balance, bringing equilibrium, I seek balance in my own life. Despite the monotony of 2020, the world, the universe and life still continue. The stars burn, the planets turn and despite my lack of notice the seasons continue.

    This festival of Mabon I will remember that the harvest still exists.
    The universe still provides.
    My needs are still met.
    I pray that your needs are too.

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

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  • Review of my new journal set-up

    The first review of my new journal set-up using different journals for weekly and daily planning. A quick look at an issue relating to my junk journal. And a quick trip to the beach to talk about creative and inspiring sounds.

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  • Be happy – Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

    Be happy – A Fiction Writing Prompt to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

    It felt like every muscle on my face took part in producing my smile. My skin stretched like a supple yoga enthusiast. - Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

    It felt like every muscle on my face took part in producing my smile. My skin stretched like a supple yoga enthusiast.

    Writing Prompt Expanded

    This week’s Friday Fiction Writing Prompt is all about showing and describing but without telling. Let me explain. The challenge is to show that your character is happy without saying they are happy. It is very easy to say x or y was happy, but it isn’t very exciting and it doesn’t engage the reader on a deeper level. Saying someone is happy is plain and passive. It has its place but will not let your reader engage on a deep level with your character(s). Showing what your character feels, rather than telling, allows the reader to join in the experience. It brings the narrative much closer, and when you write, closeness is good.

    It is all about describing the change, from one state of being to happiness.

    • How does your character look?
    • Does their voice change?
    • What is different about them?

    Of course, you don’t need to use the prompt as it is. You can play with any emotion or feeling as long as you don’t say what it is, happy, sad, angry etc. No rules just write and enjoy.

    As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your own interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story or something a little more grandiose. If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments or tag me. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

    Background Image of the lady by Free-Photos from Pixabay

    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.

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  • New Moon in Virgo Intentions Ritual

    New Moon intentions in my journals

    Each lunar month I use the New Moon as a marker to set some short term goals and intentions. I use the New Moon as I like the symbolism of birth and growth, dark to light and its cyclical nature. There is a completeness that nature provides that isn’t found in my basic monthly to-do list.

    The process I follow is listed below, but I don’t keep rigidly to it. That’s another reason I like this ritual. It’s one of those higher-level, fluid processes that I can use and not feel like it is using or controlling me.

    • New moon: set intention(s)
    • Waxing half-moon: adjust actions to reach intention(s)
    • Full-moon: reach and work through intention(s)
    • Waning half-moon: adjust ongoing actions to maintain intention(s)

    And so it has come to pass that I am at another New Moon ritual. And, as you can see I have a plethora of journals that I am noting it in. They will all record pretty much the same, however, some are more visual reminders than practical planners.

    This New Moon I am thinking about the wider world in addition to my personal goals. The virus and other issues have caused great hardship and damage to people’s lives, both mentally and physically. Other issues around the globe are also causing concern. It feels like the world needs a little help. So, in addition to my personal intentions, I am raising a prayer, a thought, an intention that the world can begin to heal. It is in need of a little tincture, or perhaps radical intervention, either way, I pray.

    Personally, this New Moon is all about using my own talents and abilities. I need to defeat the self-doubt demons and slay the self-sabotaging ones who often work with them.

    Overall, this New Moon in Virgo is all about getting serious with things, both globally and in my own life. The two are linked quite closely at the moment. Things are beginning to move and I need to be ready.

    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

  • My latest journal set-up – New Size

    A look at my latest journal set-up as I prepare for the week ahead. I am separating my monthly and weekly from my daily, in an attempt to find the right size and feel for each day. All part of my ongoing quest to find my perfect journal set-up. I’ll be back soon with a review of how is it going.

    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

  • Finding the right size – Journal update

    Finding the right size - journal update video cover

    A junk journal and planner update in which I talk myself into using another journal… what’s he like?