Check out the brand new FREEDOM TO THINK podcast - out now!
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@freedomtothinksite
Check out the brand new FREEDOM TO THINK podcast - out now!
https://freedomtothinksite.tumblr.com/tagged/podcast
A BRAND NEW episode of the Freedom To Think podcast is almost here!
In this episode of the FREEDOM TO THINK podcast, Jonathan Stroud explores creativity, careers, work/life balance and more with best-selling author and illustrator, Tony De Saulles.
Boredom teaches us that life isn’t a parade of amusements. More important, it spawns creativity and self-sufficiency.
Pamela Paul writes in the NY Times about the importance of letting children get bored, of feeling that downtime, restlessness, and the sparks it creates.
She writes:
"...boredom is something to experience rather than hastily swipe away. And not as some kind of cruel Victorian conditioning, recommended because it’s awful and toughens you up. Despite the lesson most adults learned growing up — boredom is for boring people — boredom is useful. It’s good for you.”
My wife and I stopped handing over our smartphones. We couldn't have guessed what would happen next.
A great article about a Dad who decided to let his kids get bored.
In the second episode of the FREEDOM TO THINK podcast, Jonathan Stroud talks with critically-acclaimed author SF Said, about writing, drafting, unhappy editors and staring at a blank page...
Check out the podcast tab to take a listen.
In this episode of the FREEDOM TO THINK podcast, Jonathan Stroud talks with critically-acclaimed author SF Said, about writing, drafting, unhappy editors and staring at a blank page...
We’re thrilled to say that the first FREEDOM TO THINK podcast is now available on iTunes, so you can listen to it on the podcast app on your phone or tablet!
https://apple.co/2AVefzg
Listen to Jonathan Stroud chatting with award-winning author, Jo Cotterill, about creativity, inspiration, the writing process, diversity and more, in the first ever FREEDOM TO THINK podcast!
Freedom to Think: Blog One
by Jonathan Stroud
I’ve got a new dog! Actually that’s not quite true. I’ve had him for six months now, but it still feels like a recent event. It’s the sense of newness that comes from having all your preconceptions turned upside down. His name is Alfie and he’s a Cavapoo (or Cavoodle, if you’re from Australia), which is a poodle and King Charles cavalier spaniel crossed. He has a spaniely nose, big floppy ears and lovely cream hair with flecks of brown in it. If your favourite cappuccino suddenly grew four legs and turned into a dog, Alfie would be the result. He’s also very small. When we got him, we guessed he was the runt of the litter (you could tell by the lines of paw marks zigzagging across his back), and he hasn’t grown a great deal since. But right from the first he displayed both the fluffy bounciness that’s expected of a pup, and the kind of zen-like inner calm and common-sense that isn’t. So he has the healthy hobbies of any self-respecting hound (e.g. stealing stray underpants and running off to bury them in the garden), but is also more than happy curling up on my lap of an evening, helping me work my way through my latest box-set. In short, he’s a very well-balanced fellow.
Anyway, as canine friends go, he’s a winner, and that’s something I never thought I’d come to write. Why? Simply because having never owned a dog before, I was always somewhat cautious about the implications. In essence I feared the poo-bags, the yelps and whines, and the constant hassling for attention (and, as a father of three, believe me I knew what I was talking about here). Above all, I was really worried that the new pet would be a big drain on my time. This year I’ve been working on the ideas for several new writing projects, and I was frightened that Alfie would make it even more difficult to concentrate on them.
But to my surprise things haven’t worked out that way. The main shock is that as well as being an excavator of my flower-bed, Alfie is a specialist at digging up time I didn’t know I had. He needs his walks, and he needs his visits to the bottom of the garden at 6.15a.m. when I’ve just staggered out of bed. And in all these moments he forces me to take a step or two away from the daily treadmill and its endless time constraints. In the summer, I listened to the humming of the bees and watched the birds weave their invisible cats-cradles in the air. I went for strolls in the fields, circling the ripening wheat, leaving bone-dry clouds of dust rising from the path between my tramping boots. Now, in the autumn, I see the mists enveloping the empty, muddy lanes, and follow the slow curve of the red kites’ flight over the trees and hills. And it does me good to see these things, rather than not see them. Sometimes I think about important things, and other times I don’t, but always my mind has a chance to clear out some of the internal logjams that threaten to overwhelm it. By the time I’m back at my desk I’m that little bit rejuvenated, and it’s all thanks to the small shaggy white companion pottering at my side.
None of this should have been a surprise to me. For a while now I’ve been talking about the importance of time and space in all our lives: the free time that loosens the ties that bind us, and the free space that helps remind us who we are. That’s what Freedom to Think is all about, after all – investing in quiet moments that don’t have an agenda. Despite my good intentions, however, I’ve all too often ended up filling my day with nothing but chores and tasks. After all, there are always endless hurdles to navigate: school events, sports, shopping, household jobs… They form an endless, self-perpetuating line, and even now I find it almost impossible to break free of them without amassing guilt and stress. But at least Alfie the dog is showing me the way forwards. He has no agenda. Simply being with him is enough. Thanks to him I’m rediscovering the exhilaration that comes from carving out these small-scale freedoms, and it’s helping me charge up my creative drive. I feel healthier these days. I feel better balanced and more engaged with the world around me. Oh, and those writing projects I’ve been working on all this year? They’re starting to move on nicely. Not bad for a pup whose favourite pastime is burying my pants in odd corners of the garden.
Playing, creating, socialising, dreaming, inventing - long summertime days are here!
What creative adventures do you have planned for the summer holidays?
School holidays wearing thin? Keep little ones busy with some creative distractions
Indulge in some creative colouring-in this summer with these top books!
Jonathan’s brilliantly inspiring and wonderfully entertaining creative event is returning to the Oxford Literary Festival for a third year running.
Tickets to ‘Get Creative’ are available now and joining Jonathan on the stage to share their artistic tips and take part in live creative challenges are three top names in the children’s books world - SF Said, Lauren St John and Tamsyn Murray.
Tickets are available now here:
http://oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-events/2018/march-18/get-creative-with-jonathan-stroud-and-friends
Jonathan will be at the Cheltenham Festival of Literature this autumn, doing an event inspired by the FREEDOM TO THINK campaign.
Jonathan will share the stage with other top class authors and illustrators as they explore what makes them creative, give tips to spark your imagination and complete artistic challenges LIVE on stage!
It's set to be a fantastic event for all the family - tickets available now! Saturday 8th October 2017 at 12 noon.
http://www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/…/wha…/2017/get-creative/
FREE drop-in creative activities HAPPENING NOW at the Edinburgh International Book Festival! Jonathan is there and getting creative himself.
If you’re in Edinburgh, do pop in to the Greenhouse on George Street, now until 1pm (and again tomorrow lunchtime), say hi to Jonathan and let your imagination run wild!
DON’T MISS THE FREEDOM TO THINK *FREE* DROP-IN ACTIVITIES AT THIS YEAR’S EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL!
We’re gearing up for some creative fun, by creating prototypes for the Great Toilet Roll Challenge! Fish, snake, robot, rocket, we’re brimming with ideas - and hope they spark your imagination too.
Drop in, meet Jonathan Stroud, find out more about the campaign, and (most importantly) GET CREATIVE!
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/freedom-to-think-10336
Yesterday, the Oxford Literary Festival hosted a ‘Freedom to Think’ event.
Jonathan was joined on stage by a top panel of creative talent - Katherine Rundell, Robin Stevens and Tony De Saulles for ‘The Return of the The Great British Creative Challenge’.
To a sold-out audience of 150 people, young and old, the panel discussed their creative roots, showed off some creations from their childhood, and talked about how they find time and space to explore their imaginations in their grown-up lives.
The discussion was interspersed with live creative challenges - drawing and story-telling inspired by suggestions from the audience (including a dragon wearing a suit, a unicorn in a red jumper and a story about a detective frog uncovering the tragic death of an island koala!).
It was a fantastic, inspiring event and we hope it left the audience eager to explore their own creativity!