darren r hill

the creative minimalist

The site needs a bit of a refresh, so as they used to say it is under construction. As such things might not look right, work right, or even feel right. But only until everything is new and shiny. After that… who knows.
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This month has been productive despite global chaos, and I have noticed the importance of maintaining a positive and intentional creative practice.
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This week’s creative field notes include how I am keeping up with February Album Writing Month and coming up with a few other creative ideas.
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January has been a difficult month for this creative minimalist. However, the festival of Imbolc is as good a time as any to make a creative new start. This week’s vlog explores recent creative highs and lows.
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As we begin the new year of 2025, I’m excited to share my collection of journals with you in this week’s vlog. I have a new daily planner, as well as music and fiction journals, and various vocabulary notebooks.
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My word of the year for 2025 is odyssey. It both a journey with a destination in mind and plenty of wiggle room for distractions.
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Love — Weekly Creative Prompt
It’s time for another weekly creative prompt word. These weekly words, or prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus on our creative work.

This week leads us to Valentine’s Day. Although the day is, like so many other festivals and celebrations, hijacked by commercialisation, the underlying meaning and metaphor resonates. And not wanting to be outdone by chocolates, flowers and poor rhyming verses, we’re going there. Therefore…

This week’s creative prompt word is:

Love — an intense feeling of deep affection:

intense and deep have many connotations, and like love itself can mean so much

Let the prompt inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
- writing fiction
- art journaling
- songwriting
- journaling
- photography
- painting
- composing
- blog posts
- art therapy
- anything that could use a little nudge to begin
I now have ‘love’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. Furthermore, I am half-heartedly taking part and following FAWM, the February Album Writing Month, and when it comes to songwriting, more than a few lyrics are inspired by Love.

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 @darrenrhill or #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.

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6 February 2021
Friday Fiction Writing Prompt — Begin
A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word begin to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

… Five, four, three, two, one… lift-off…

Writing Prompt Expanded

My creative prompt word for this week is ‘begin’. As this is a fiction writing prompt we are all about adventure, and this week the adventure begins.

Normally, these prompts are quite open, giving you as much scope and space as possible. While there is still plenty of wiggle room with this prompt, the setting is pretty much given and the starting point clear. We’re on the launchpad, the engines are firing and the literary adventure is about to begin.

It is lift-off. The challenge of the prompt is to describe the emotions and feelings of the people inside the spacecraft. (Unless, of course, you have managed to twist the prompt into some other situation, which is perfectly acceptable.)
- How do their bodies respond?
- What thoughts and feelings are running through their heads?
- How do they deal with the physical and emotional stresses and changes?
What makes this more of a challenge is that, unless you are one of the just under 600 people who have been to space , you will be using your imagination for this prompt. You can do a little research, which is always a good thing, but beware using TV or film science fiction as your reference points, everything there is not as it seems.

As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your 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, use the hashtag #ffwp or tag me @darrenrhill. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original rocket image by WikiImages 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.

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
5 February 2021
No tree buds yet, but rain – Wordless Wednesday

3 February 2021
Imbolc and fresh starts
I’m no expert on the Neo-pagan festivals, but over recent years I have found myself drawn to the natural seasonal cycle to which they relate. The solstices and equinoxes create four astronomical festivals and the other four find themselves pretty equal between. Which brings me to Imbolc, which traditionally is celebrated from the evening of 1st February to the evening of the 2nd. Although, astronomically speaking, it actually occurs about 3pm on 3rd February (GMT).

Imbolc¹ is all about new beginnings after winter. Bulbs begin to sprout shoots, ice begins to melt and life, that has lain dormant through winter tentatively emerges. It is a metaphor that resonates more so this year with our world in the grips of the coronavirus.
- Life has been dormant beneath the ground and within bare branches.
- Life has been dormant while we endured lockdowns and loss.
Like the shoots budding on the trees and the snowdrops and bulbs thinking about breaking through the earth, there are hopes. We now have vaccines and better treatments for those who suffer are being developed.

Like a late winter storm or spring frost there may be further setbacks. Imbolc doesn’t say winter will not go without a few cries. Imbolc does say that spring is on the way. It is the herald of new life, new opportunities and new hope. That for me is a good feeling.

Imbolc blessings my friends, may you find hope in the lengthening days ahead.

¹ This is only in the Northern Hemisphere. But each festival offers its positive outlook on things. Wherever you are, may you find hope for the future.

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
2 February 2021
Begin – Weekly Creative Prompt
It’s time for another weekly creative prompt word. These weekly words, or prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some focus to our creative work.

The festival Imbolc takes place this week. The exact timing depends on how close you want to stick to the astrological calendar. There are many myths, legends, and stories about what Imbolc is about, with different belief systems vying for prominence. However, what is certain is that the date has historically been seen as the beginning of spring. Therefore…

This week’s creative prompt word is:

Begin — perform or undergo the first part of an action or activity:

if you are in the grip of winter weather it may be hard to believe, but beneath the snow and ice, life is getting ready to begin

Let the prompt inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
- writing fiction
- art journaling
- songwriting
- journaling
- photography
- painting
- composing
- blog posts
- art therapy
- anything that could use a little nudge to begin
I now have ‘begin’ written on the board above my computer. I am hoping it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. So far, this year I have struggled with motivation and my creativity has been minimal. Using begin this week, I hope it will kickstart things.

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 @darrenrhill or #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
31 January 2021
Friday Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the Full Moon
A Fiction Writing Prompt to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

The cloud drifted aside. The light grew gradually. The moon was full. That meant…

Writing Prompt Expanded

The moon orbits the earth and plays a vital role in life on our planet. Its influence can be seen through the gravitational effect on the tides. However, I often wonder what effect this satellite has on our bodies, considering that they are approximately 60% water. This week’s creative prompt is full. It was partly inspired by the knowledge that there was a full moon yesterday. So, that’s why we are here thinking about the full moon.

The challenge in this writing prompt is to decide what effect the moon will have, or, if you are journaling, does have. There are many legends, myths and stories concerning the full moon. For millennia people have been guided by the moon. I use the lunar cycle as a time to set and achieve goals. Here are a few ideas that might trigger your creativity:
- Werewolves or other creatures of the night
- the power of crystals and/or magic
- an unknown energy influence from the moon
- the dangers caused by a high tide
- the timing of a harvest, or fishing trip
I hope this writing prompt enables you to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Inspiration is sometimes thought of as a lightbulb. When lit we are creative. Here is a prompt that contains the light itself, it may be the lesser light in our sky, but it has a significant influence.

As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your 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, use the hashtag #ffwp or tag me @darrenrhill. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original moon image by Gerhard G. 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.

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
29 January 2021