Phil Bowell

I’m three days into my new blogging challenge. Enjoying having the extra creative outlet so far.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s only the second day of the challenge I set myself, to post to my blog everyday from now until the end of the year, and already I’m asking the question of what do I write about.

I would imagine it’s a familiar story to anyone who’s decided to undertake such a challenge. Going from barely writing or posting to your blog to posting everyday it’s only natural to find yourself wondering what to write about. If I hadn’t been here before it would be a big worry, it might even be so discouraging that I would just abandon ship straight away. Whilst this morning when I decided it was time to write today’s post I didn’t have anything in particular I wanted to write about I know that if I keep going and posting each day I will eventually end up with too many subjects to write about. It’s the nature of the beast, the more you do it, the more ideas you have.

There are a number of different tactics that I’ve come across over the years that are aimed at helping you come up with subjects to write about. Unsurprisingly none of them have ever worked for me, but there is one thing that does. I know it works because I’ve demonstrated it in other parts of my life, be it reading my bible or doing the work for my freelance business.

Showing up every day.

So here I am, showing up. A new sheet in Ulysses, my headphones in and I’m writing. In fact through the course of writing this post I’ve already come up with the topic for tomorrow’s post. There it is in action. Showing up today has triggered the process. The more you do something the more idea’s you have, the first step is showing up.

I've written 442 posts on this site. The first one was written on 17th January 2011, that's five and half years ago. It equates to around 80 posts per year and about 1.5 posts per week. It's not bad going, but it could be better.

During those times there's been many spells of inactivity and many spells of multiple posts per day, this is what I would like to change most about my site, the inconsistent posting patterns. Last night I found myself browsing the web in a way that I've not done for a long time. I ended up on a rabbit trail of personal blogs, one that started with a site I subscribe to that I kicked off into safari on my iPad. It felt like rediscovering the internet again. This was what got me into the blogging scene way back in 2005 when I started my first blog. There was a line in one of the articles I read that resonated with me. It was feedback that the author received regularly,

Stopping blogging regularly was one of people's biggest regrets. I certainly wish I hadn't stopped. Or I should say, I wish I hadn't let the habit slip.

Since I started blogging way back in 2005 I've had two main sites. The first site, which sadly is no longer in existence, lasted from 2006 until this site started in 2011. It was my first proper foray into internet publishing and as a result I didn't really think too much about what I would post. Topics were wide in range but naturally reflected my personal interests, something which I feel has been lost a bit on this site. Which is somewhat ironic given that this is the site which bears my full name in the url.

With that in mind it’s time to declare that this is the first post in a new challenge I'm setting myself. I want to recapture the joy that I had when I first started publishing on the web. It was something I enjoyed and did everyday, and so, that's my new challenge. I want to post to this site everyday until the end of the year. Some will be links, some will be original writing, but all of it will reflect me and my interests. I'm going to try my utmost not to pick and choose too much of what I write, I will simply write and post each day from now until December 31st.

I had the pleasure of preaching this morning in a small chapel that my church supports. It wasn’t until the end that I saw this sign was on the wall behind the over head screen. When I saw it I was instantly struck by what it declared. Immanuel, God with us. The small group of people that were gathered in that room this morning clearly love Jesus, it was so clear to me that God was with us as we met around his table for communion and as we prayed and worshipped together. I felt his presence as I preached, my prayer is that those listening did as well. I was so acutely aware of the truth in Matthew 18 v 20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” And I am so thankful of this.

As I was leaving the coffee house this evening something made me look up, this was my view. As I snapped the photo I was reminded of something I once said to the student group at church. It was a small phrase to remind them and prompt them to keep their life in perspective. Look up, look back, look forward. To look up at God our father as the first thing we do in life, to look back at what he did for us through Jesus' death and resurrection and to look forward in that knowledge and security that trust and faith in him brings.

Having one of those nights where I can’t sleep. Might be related to the espresso martini I had this evening…

If Adobe were to release a full blown version of Illustrator for iPad Pro I would genuinely sell my iPad Air 2 and buy a Pro. Just spent an hour revising a logo design using Bez and some custom fonts and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Nothing quite like an afternoon revising and realigning your blog design. When I don’t do my own creative projects, I forget how much I need that time.

I’ve been having email issues on my Mac with Mail.app lately. Not staying connected or able to connect without restarting, decided to give Airmail a try on all my devices.

This week has felt very admin-y, lots of numbers and paperwork, looking forward to spending some time doing some creative bits tomorrow.