*based on my experience so far.

Today I witnessed an incredible sunrise. Golden beams of light and a red and orange streaky sky painted with clouds lit up at about 7.45am, followed moments later by a giant fireball peeking above a ridge of hills. All whilst driving along. I smiled and breathed it in. It was a fleeting moment and I wondered if humans have always appreciated the beauty of seeing the sun rise. There is even a salute to the sun in Yoga.

It got me thinking.

Right now in the Northern Hemisphere we are faced with darkening mornings and nights drawing in earlier. Many people go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, as the earth tilts on it’s axis slowly away from the sun for the autumn and winter months.

However, the sun still rises everyday. It gets light every single day. Wow.

At the moment I am hanging on to this. It helps when I wake up in the dark hours to know that the darkness is merely temporary.

At lunch time, when all is light and I wander outside for some minutes of air, the dark morning is just a distant memory and the evening is still way off.

One benefit of the dark nights is that it allows me to focus on my work without feeling like I should be outside making the most of the sun and the heat. Time to press on.

I’m embracing the temporary darkness in the knowing that lightness is just around the corner.

*When I have nothing else to do.

When I was on holiday I really enjoyed washing dishes.

I had nothing urgent to do at all besides enjoy the moment.

I took my time washing each dish.

I was not thinking where I was going, or of some place I had to be.

I had no plans.

The dishes loved it.

Each dish and piece of cutlery got washed and rinsed with care.

It also allows me to look out of the window and enjoy sights like this:

Sunset Over Dishes

The challenge I find is to take this approach in day to day life, when there is more going on and you have more places to be.

Today I learnt a lesson.

Sometimes I wonder how much of an impact my work is making.

My desire is to help others through the mediums of writing and music.

Sometimes, what I do might not feel very groundbreaking or seem like is very important.

I am learning to ignore these false emotions.

Sharing my experience can provide insight and encouragement to others.

How do I know this?

Over the last 2 days I received 2 individual messages from 2 different people to say that some posts I had written had really helped them take steps with moving forwards and clearing out old work.

It is always humbling to receive these messages.

What is not new for me might be new for someone else.

Keep experimenting, keep sharing.

Thanks for reading today.

I recently made the decision to untether* from my vinyl collection.

I first bought records when I was a kid.

I started to seriously buy records in 1999 when I started to DJ at uni.

I bought a whole load of records over the next 5-8 years, mostly via mail order from Turntable Lab in NYC. I remember the day I actually went there in the flesh. It was like a mini pilgrimage to the birthplace of the music I loved. I took many records back home.

I loved everything about vinyl. Taking a record out it’s sleeve, being careful not to touch the surface, blowing off any dust, setting it on the platter, lifting the needle across and letting it drop gently, before hearing that familiar warm crackle and the music began. Ahhh. Bliss.

Great things about vinyl:

• the artwork and packaging
• they are very tactile
• there is a certain calming ritual you carry out with the simple act of putting on a record
• they force you to slow down and really listen to the music
• I never skipped tracks, but listened intently to whole albums
• the warm sound

Compare this with the flipside.

It’s never easy negotiating a full record bag through airport luggage systems and I always worried whether it would arrive at my destination. Many a fellow DJ lost their entire record collection including rare gems whilst travelling, when they would mysteriously disappear on route before baggage claim. But still I kept on buying.


The not so great things about vinyl:

• it’s sooooo heavy
• it collects dust
• its not portable
• it takes up alot of space
• some is very valuable – one more thing to be precious about

I have already sold a couple of crates over the years, pairing it down to the best of the best that I used all the time. This numbered around 70 pieces:

The last of my collection.

I have made the decision to part with this also.

I will miss my vinyl in many ways but feel I have made the right decision. I always have the memories of the positives.