31 Jan

Starting Something New #TodaysWord #366Project

Written by UrbanVox 0 Comments

I was waking on Bluewater the other day and Big Monkey saw a photography stand… They ahd a product there that was basically you go and choose images from a catalog… each of them resembles a leter… and you can form words from the letters you choose and frame them to give as gifts.

I thought it was such an awesome idea! And so did Tommy… he looked at me and said: “Daddy, you are a photographer, right? I think you should do that!”…

My eldest son is a GENIUS!

So basically… I shall be adding that to my list photography services… Only … I shall be doing it differently… instead of having a catalog of I will be doing bespoke artworks to fit the words and what the client wants to transmit with them message… and instead of simply framing it I will use some very intelligently awesome suppliers I have found… so watch this space…

This week I am going to put my creativity to the test: All of my 366Project posts will be fashioned like the one on top… LIFE… is a good beginning huh?!?!?!

And there is more… every night I will ask my Twitter followers what is the word I should work on the next day… I am not allowed to use photograph letters… Only forms and objects I find throughout my day… I am allowed to photograph street signs… as a last resort.

And THAT is my challenge for the rest of the week… And you are invited to participate… so… dictionaries in hands ladies and gents!!!! I will once again be taking requests… just… this time I won’t be photographing my belly!!!!

Carpe Diem!!!

27 Dec

The Great 2011 Review…

Written by UrbanVox 4 Comments

In 2011 I have laughed, cried, grown, evolved, made mistakes… and learned from those mistakes, I fell in love… and then found out it wasn’t love, I’ve kissed and broken up (twice), gave up on life and learned to enjoy it again, I remembered and found I was not forgotten, made new friends and renewed old friendships, I’ve been betrayed and I got back on my horse after a long fall.

I became a dad for the 3rd time… and felt closer to my sons than ever. I have missed them and hugged them like I’d never let them go. I longed to hold one of them in special for far too long, and I held him tight when the time came that I could do so again. I’ve had “the talk” about birds and bees learned one thing or two from my sons too.

I have learned that it is better to love and cherish what we have than miss what we have lost.

I have learned that I am awful at being single but have learned to like my own space.

I’ve moved around to different towns and back and forwards in and out of The Attic (twice)…

I have found new things about myself that I could count… And have found out that the more you search the less likely you are to find yourself… funny that, right?!?!?!

I’ve learned I am quite good with ropes… and had a good chance to use all the knots and tricks I’ve learned as a boyscout… And I simply LOVED photographing the results.

I started on with a few projects… most of them were shelved again… there ~~was~~ is just too much going on in my life that I needed to get out of the way before getting them out there… I have sabotaged myself… a lot… But I have decided that 2012 will be a sabotage free year… I am putting my act together and getting my priorities straight…

in 2011 I’ve taken some GREAT photos (not being big headed… just proud of myself) and in 2012 I am planning to take even more of those… As well as making sure I don’t neglect this blog… I’ve got a few plans… and specially if you enjoy photography… well… keep an eye in this space…

Life is just like the song says… “You live… You LEARN…” and in 2011 I have definitely learned… Life goes on! And bring on 2012!!!

What have YOU learned this year???

11 Jul

The 30s Big Screw Up

Written by UrbanVox 7 Comments

I don’t really remember how we hit the subject of mid-life crisis, but we were chatting about it the other day. Apparently, according to Kay, the time-line for the event that comes to every man alive is completely wrong.

“Every man screws up big time in one way or another when they reach the age of 30 not when he buys a sports car or finds a girlfriend half his age at 50! Mid life crisis actually hits at 30″

She then went on to tell me how every men in her life did something really stupid when he became 30 and how many of her Mummy Friends partners did just the same… She even decided on a criteria for new possible partners after her divorce: they would need to be over 30 (PS: Her ex screwed up big time at 30 too).

The concept actually made me think… and I am not affirming it as an absolute here, but loads of over-thirty guys I know did take VERY silly approaches to one thing or another in life that resulted in massive change in lifestyle… Sometimes the things are good… Others were just a massive screw-up…

Her theory does make a whole lot of sense to me in special because it hit home quite hard. I took some VERY bad decisions when I upgraded the MAN software to version 3.0.

At the time the choices made a lot of sense… I thought I needed to think about me for a change… I thought I needed change to make life worth living… It didn’t cross my mind that the changes I needed doing were minor and and not as radical as they were. Didn’t cross my mind that would probably be best to fix little things than Starting Over at 30.

I have made mistakes just like my dad before me… at the age of 30…

Do I regret some of them? Yeah… I do… big time… but if there is one thing I have learned with all of that is that we need to live with the choices we make, and we need to make the best out of every situation we live.

The biggest example is a little miracle arriving in 11 days as consequence from one of the decisions I took. A little miracle that I have loved from day one and that I am VERY anxious to meet on the 25th of July.

Through this same mistake I now have some very awesome people in my life I would probably have bever had the chance to get to know any better or meet in person if I had gone any other way. I would have never discovered some VERY fundamental things about myself either…

If I could write a letter to 20 year old me it would not be to warn me of all the things that would be coming my way on the next 10 years or so (mainly because I know I’d probably ignore the letter and do it my way… with very few changes that is)… It would be to tell myself to follow my heart… but at the same way to never abandon reason. It would be to say enjoy life as much as you can, specially the little things… little things ROCK!!

OK… maybe there is one thing I would warn myself about…. with capital letters and all: LISTEN TO LIVI YOU MORRON… Apparently she is always right…(like the plug hun??? )

I know I am being repetitive here, but I will say it once again, just in case it got passed undetected by you in earlier posts. The only thing we can be certain of in life is change. sometimes it comes in small bouts, easy to deal with. Other times they overwhelm us and force us to make changes in our very core to be able to survive more or less intact.

I am sure I can call what happened to me last year a crisis… one that I am only emerging from very recently… A midlife one? That I don’t know… there are a few things missing… for example: Why on earth am I not driving a fast/expensive sports car?????

Now that I have presented my case I have a quick question for you: Do you think middle age should be officially moved to 30 instead of 50s?

08 Jun

A Clean Slate…

Written by UrbanVox 6 Comments

Do you ever imagine how it would be to drop from the face of the earth and move somewhere you don’t know anyone and start again from zero? Leave behind everyone and everything you know and find yourself with what appears to be a blanch page… ready for you to write your own story, however you want to do it.

I dropped that question on twitter a couple of times… I was actually surprised about home many people think that more often than not…

I’ve actually done it…

I left a successful career, a stable life, a relationship that had prospects to be great, my friends and family behind, hopped into a plane and did it…

That was 8 years ago.

And you know what… sometimes I wish I had enjoyed the opportunity more… Had fun, travelled, worked only to keep me going and to my next stop… I wanted to put a rucksack in my back and disappear in the world… I was planning to send post cards from here and there to important people in my life… And that is all…

Only problem is life got on the way… I met a girl, fell in love and the rest you know… and if you don’t you can find it in this blog.

That was my plan out of the window…

Back to The Attic

Written by UrbanVox 4 Comments

I am Back in the Attic!

Did you ever hear that sometimes to be able to give 2 steps forward you need to give 1 step backward? Well… I hate to admit that… but this time I will have to agree with the old say…

You se… I am the sort of guy the usually pushes forward in any circumstance… some times too far… But I usually refuse to step back when I believe I’m right… That has landed me into a load of trouble throughout my life. It has also pushed people I love away…

I have a small problem with boundaries… I tend to see them… the walls that people buid… as the sort of challenge that I can’t say no to… Thos walls we build around us to protect from the outside also mean that we are imprisoning ourselves on the inside… half the time we just don’t realise that…

I am in a crusade that I call The Journey… I am trying to find a few true points about myself and fix them… well… at leas being able to manage it… Boundaries is one of these points. I am awful with them… and I think the biggest part of my problem is that I don’t really know mine… For example… I am the sort of guy that will travel 200 miles to help a friend, or to meet someone that touches my heart… and I would do that without thinking twice…

See??? I have no idea what my boundaries are… I need to find my limits and make sure I respect them… and to make sure other people respect them too…

THAT is my nightmare… my worst challenge ever in The Journey : To find my boundaries… and to learn to respect them.

This is what moving back to The Attic means to e right now. I had moved to Staines to be closer to the Hayley, the baby and my kids, and at first glance it was great… but then I quickly found myself stepping over Hales’s limits because I couldn’t find mine and ended up stressing her more than helping…

So I am giving one step back to be able to give 2 forward!

We both probably need the space in our heads to be honest….

So here’s what I’m planning to achieve while Im back at The Attic:

Finding my own boundaries and limits so I can recognise other peoples as such.
Retune my mind and soul… my spirit…
Get Action Stations on track!!! That is priority one with baby coming! Specially as it will help me with next step which is
Retaking my Ministry… Nope… I am not becoming a pastor… that’t not my call and as so I will not pursuit it… I will however do what I’m called to do!
Get my life back in tack!
Save on the rent money… (what??? I have a baby on the way… I need the money!!! )