Chipping Away

Is it really that hard?

Now, in case you didn’t realise…. I’m a bloke…..No it’s true!

Being a bloke has certain pressures that we unknowingly put on our selves ……. (Now ladies don’t get offended, I’m sure you have pressures as well, but I’m not a lady so for now I’ll speak as a bloke ☺). Take for example surfing. I spoke to someone who wanted to start surfing the other night. I told him it’s awesome and that he should get a board….. He told me with 20 years experience riding a skateboard he would have an advantage. I’ve heard this before.

I said “Now, yes you will have elements of balance in transitioning like on a ramp… But don’t expect to be good straight away. The amount of guys that only do something if they’re good at it, and give up when they haven’t practiced enough is phenomenal.” I then explained that it’s more than likely he’s never jumped up from his belly to his feet on a skateboard, possibly the hardest part about beginning surfing. I told him that if he was ok with being useless at something for about a year…. Then he should go for it…. But if he had to be ‘great’ at it really early, then he would get angry and quit straight away.

There’s truth in this for many areas of life. We give up on things after a short amount of time, simply because we think it’s too hard.
So what I do, is slowly learn things, in short amounts over a few years- my moto (after being inspired by Shawkshank Redemption the movie) is ‘Chip away, five minutes a day!’

5 mins a day doing anything will make you look like a professional no matter what it is after 20years!
Of course it’s also awesome to binge on learning and get better sooner, but for those of us who are busy with life, the key is not to think anything is too hard, the key is to simply chip away for 5 mins a day! Or even once a week if you want! It’s just a frame I’ve given myself!

Want to learn guitar? Just chip away every day! Surf? Keep going out! Don’t get angry and quit, keep going!
A student said to me once “Luke you’re good at everything you do.” What he didn’t realise was that I used to look at all the other students when I was young and think the same thing, they always seemed to be better than me more naturally and picked up things quicker…. So I replied “No mate, I’m not really, I just do things over 20 years and don’t give up.”

I may not have a University Degree, but I’ve studied Psychology, Marketing, Photography, Design, Counselling, Peace Making, Theology and a heap of other topics by simply learning over years and years. I sometimes listen to University Lectures in my car with an app on my iPhone called iTunes U, which has free University Courses!!

With our digital age there’s no excuses for not pursuing the things we love and ways to find how to do them!!!!

So are you going to use that old excuse ‘It’s too hard’?

Or are you going to start chipping away for five minutes a day?

Luke

Bitstrips

Burn Off

Burn Off

 

I walked into the Police Station to pick up my Journal.

 

It had taken months for the court to convict the man who had done unspeakable things. I had a small amount of information I’d actually written down in the Journal but obviously there was my own personal writings and stories that I really hoped they didn’t read. 

 

Several years earlier I had an impression to write, every day. I was really rusty at first, I had cramps in my hands after a few minutes of using a pen, for months at first, I was 22 years old and writing was what I was forced to do in High School (so I thought at the time) so why do it as an adult right? 

 

But every day I wrote, what I was going through, what happened during the day and what I thought was going to happen. It was very raw, personal and incredibly good for me. I didn’t know anyone else in my life who wrote. We weren’t encouraged in our family, so as far as I knew I was the only person who kept this discipline. 

 

I would go over my past entries and read about what I was going through, and I could see how rapidly I was growing as a human being. 

 

The first Journal became one year…

 

Then I’d need to start another…

 

Then another…

 

The Journals were the most precious things I owned. One Journal was even in a third person context just to keep the creative aspect to my writing. Instead of saying ‘I met a nice lady today in the bookstore…’ I would write ‘The woman approached Luke while his eyes scanned the novels in the Adelaide book store…’. It was a challenge, but so fun. My Journals could be written however I wanted. Because they were only for me. 

 

Although, over the years, I couldn’t help but think ‘One day I may get married. I may even have children, even grandchildren…. what if they could read it?’ I never knew much of my families history….. I wish I did….. I wish someone had written it….

 

I realised… I was writing my story.

 

Or possibly…

 

Our story..

 

So when the Police Officer asked if she could take the Journal I had written through one of my most hardest yet valuable and growing times (like when I made the huge decision to marry my wife) she assured me it would help the case immensely and that it was very important. 

 

“You will get it back.” She promised.

 

I asked “Couldn’t you just photocopy the pages?” 

 

“It looks a lot better in Court if we have the real thing.”

 

Reluctantly I handed it over, full of anguish about giving away one of the most treasured parts of my life I had recorded. But I knew it was incredibly important for this person to be brought to justice….. but also for the protection of others in the future. 

 

So in I walked to the Police Station, a year or so later after having been given a phone call that it was available, I was nervously ready to take home not only a valuable journal, 

 

but part of myself that was invaluable……………….

 

My story.

 

Our story.

 

“Hi my name is Luke, I’m hear to grab my Journal.” 

 

The officer asked some questions, looked on the computer and walked off. After a few minutes he came back.

 

“I’m sorry sir, it’s not available.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

 

“It was burned with a drug crop a couple of days ago.”

 

 

“What!?! Why?”

 

 

 

“Because you didn’t pick it up in time.”

 

 

 

To be continued

Family Stickers

Family Stickers are a source of annoyance for many, but what deep truths can be revealed through them?

Picture it……

I’m driving up to a ‘round-a-bout’ when the slow car in front of us takes their time….. The annoyed impulse rises and Luke’s calm demeanor changes.

I look at their back window guess and what is displayed?

A ‘My Family’ set of stickers.

So of course the obvious judgmental thoughts start going through my mind about the sort of people who place those stickers on their cars, why only the other day my wife and I were discussing the very stickers, and also the ones who judge them with their ‘I don’t give a _______ about your family’ stickers with a family being hung (if you don’t know what I’m talking about it’s probably for the best). We even saw a car driving with them in front of us, and shocked when we saw that it was an old couple who had the very harsh stickers on their car.

*On a side note, coming from a business perspective, the family stickers are a fantastic business idea! They must be making a fortune!*

So, we judge those who hate the family stickers, but in the meantime, a subtle disliking for the Family Stickers has entered my own mind- like all criticism and judgement, it comes in seductively and we very often don’t see it, and unknowingly apply the same judgements to those who would like to tell the world their family dynamics.

So, moving on, back to the round-a-bout, the annoying slow driver and their Family Stickers, I realised something…… I also have a set of Family Stickers on the very van I was driving!

That’s right! Pictured above is a photo of my very own back window I took right after this revelation I had about my own sense of judgement!

I was judging someone for something I was guilty of myself………….

Self evaluation is something I’ve done since the tender age of 21. And it’s something I still try to apply, but it’s not always easy.

I think the Family Stickers are a symbolic version of how we often subtly judge people for things, that we are guilty of ourselves…… but can’t see.

Think about that for a moment.

Like the stickers on my back window, everyone else is assuming I’m the one who put them on there…….. We judge what we don’t understand. The truth is, I bought the car a few months prior (see if you look at the far right gold fish sticker- you’ll notice it’s half ripped off) and have found them really difficult to remove.

So others are probably judging me for something that I don’t even want myself!

But, those know know me, know I don’t have 4 daughters- I only have two, and also two boys! Plus I don’t have a dog, a cat and I don’t fish!

I surf!

Wow, what a revelation I had!

The kind of people who don’t like strong willed people…… are themselves, usually strong willed people! The thing they don’t like about others, is the thing they themselves are!

But, the Family Stickers gave me a revelation- maybe they don’t actually want to be like that?

Maybe the people who annoy me (like me and my Family Stickers) want to be free from the attribute they have received from someone else?

Maybe their parents treated them poorly?

Maybe someone abandoned them?

Maybe they are so afraid of rejection, that they will reject first to save themselves having to deal with the emotions that have plagued them for years?

We all carry wounds and hurts, some in varied degrees, and maybe if we judge others, we won’t have to look at ourselves?

I went through a situation the other year in the workplace: Brace yourself….. A story is coming!

A person who was a very strong and dominating character came out to dinner with us.

I liked this person.

But during dinner, this person started to really make judgmental comments about some of the people we were working with. I’d been in the workplace for several years prior and knew some things about their personal lives, so put forth an alternative perspective concerning them…..

In other words I stuck up for them when this person was bagging them behind their backs.

This person then asked “Why do you do that?”

“What?” I replied.

“Always challenge everything I say?”

“Oh, I’m not, I just know them really well and know there’s more to their situation, so I understand why they act that way.”

We then discussed some other things which I wont mention.

This person from that point on went out of his way to do everything he could to persuade every other person in the workplace to be antagonistic against me. He wanted to take me out of the workplace.

It was unbelievable!

I really learned to understand ‘bullying’ more through that whole scenario and the power plays people pull to turn others against each other for their own security.

I even tried reconciling, apologizing for what I did wrong.

It didn’t work.

I found that weak willed people in our workplace were easily swayed. Unfortunately that was many, maybe even most, except for those who could think for themselves and not have toxic thoughts persuade their opinions of me…… in other words, those who really knew me and my motives.

I later found this person went from workplace to workplace doing the same thing, many had quit or left for mental health issues……

But he was so frustrated he couldn’t get me.

I think his issues (for whatever reason he had them), weren’t chosen. Whatever power was taken from him, that made him so power hungry would never be fulfilled.

Desire for power is unquenchable. Power only demands more power.

Like the stickers, I know he didn’t choose to be like that. No one wakes up in the morning and thinks “I wonder who I can screw over today?”

Even though I knew I was being slandered and spoken of so badly and people I once trusted would just look away as I walked by……

I kept smiling….

I kept saying “Morning!” to all those infected with the toxic slander….. but especially to him.

I wasn’t the issue.

I only represented to him what he didn’t like about himself.

My hero Yeshua of Natzeret said “With the measure you judge, you’ll be judged with.”

Meaning, how critical and unloving you are to others, others will then look at you in the same way. The longer I have been looking into these things, the longer I have also come to realise it’s also true that “With the measure you’ve been judged with, is the measure you’ll judge others.”

So, to conclude………

No matter how annoying that person is, remember, until you really know what they’ve been through, you never really know them or their motives.

I’m trying to think the best of others as much as possible. Judgements can also be positive. I want to be the person who judges favorably, who looks past the ‘Family Stickers’ and see’s that others deserve a chance and respect whether or not I ‘feel’ like it!No matter how badly they treat me!

Please feel free to post this if you think it may help people out!

Luke Greaves

A Creative Mothers Day

Train Station, a young lad sits alone…. what does it speak to me?

Mothers Day

Photography is a powerful medium for telling a story.

Sometimes I like to see stories within them even if they were not there.

I’ll elaborate.

Take this image for an example. Today is Mothers Day, but not everyone has a mother in their lives anymore. The young boy is looking towards an empty hall, but in the reflection is a woman walking with a child. So it is with people’s lives.

For some Mothers are only a memory.

Mothers leave an ever lasting impression which we carry with us every where we go, and no matter how alone we feel, their impact was so powerful, even if temporary.

If your Mother is still in your life, that is a blessing.

If your Mother is not in your life, I encourage you to do something for those women who never had children or have lost them, and feel equally as lonely on Mothers Day. Make them dinner? Buy them flowers? Mow their lawn?

Be creative!

Ministry of creativity is about looking through our grief in a creative way. Though we have lost someone we love, we then turn our love towards others who have lost also, not allowing the ever present and seductive ‘self pity’ to consume us.

Finding connectivity through creativity!

A Creative Solution

Creativity is a Fantastic Solution!

Ever had someone you care about leave you? It could have been death, could have been their family moved, or may even have been their choice to not spend time with you anymore. This principle is what we often term ‘grief’. In a nutshell grief is simply ‘Loss of connection’ to something or someone that helped you to see yourself in a positive light.

It could even be because you’ve moved somewhere, or started at new school or lost a job.

Often emotions can pop up completely unexpectedly and in untimely ways. Sometimes we don’t even realise how deep down we bury our grief. One thing people often do is look at themselves as having been the person who has done something wrong because of other peoples choices. We think we aren’t worth that wonderful sense of ‘connectivity’ we so desire. Within us all is a need to feel connected to our environment and other people around us.

We think all is good, then that person we thought was nice turns on us…. And off we go onto our emotional roller coaster again! Or we think people ignore us, which leads us to think there’s something wrong with us, when all it might have been is that they had something on their mind.

Sometimes when we don’t feel connected, we take it out on ourselves. This comes in many forms. I’m sure everyone deals with this in different ways, in fact some reading this is know exactly what I mean, because you take it out on yourself in ways you know are wrong.

So what’s a positive solution? I’ve found creativity is one of the most amazing ways to deal with those turbulent emotions. In fact, I don’t know if I would be a photographer right now if it wasn’t for going through a rough time. I used photography to help me get through a rough patch in my life a few years ago.
For some people writing is fantastic, just journaling life or creating stories. For some it’s art, poetry or building something.

We are wired to be creative, it’s such a positive way to get through tough times, and it doesn’t hurt us, it heals us!

Here’s a picture from an album of one of my favourite bands Anberlin.

I love this image, to me it speaks of something beautiful growing out of brokenness. The same way for me creativity and something positive can grow from our lives no matter how hard our past has been, or how bleak we think our future is.

Looking at life moving forward creatively is such a great way to live. It means although I’ve been broken, I’m going to paint a fantastic picture with my life, and the story is far from being over!

The Birth of a Movement!

Born through the adversity of life……. Ministry of creativity is finally here!

Years in the making, yet fresh in it’s advancement, this is the moment I have been waiting for.

For years I suppressed who I was, to keep to the mould of what others’ expected of me. Now it’s time to smash the expectations and fully move into all I was created for.

My name is Luke Greaves….. I am a Photographer. I am an Artist. I am a writer. I am a visionary.

But most of all….. I have a voice,

And now is the time to use it.

A couple of weeks ago I registered the business name here in South Australia, so I could begin my new career in public speaking…. So this is legit.

Although I spoke to large groups for years, since starting my photography business ‘Greaves Art’ a few years ago I slowly veered away from speaking, to the point where most of the former doors had closed.

Little did I know, that all these years later, I would be not only speaking again, but with a whole new message, purpose and with more wisdom.

I will now be combining my talents with my speaking, teaching photography and other creative avenues, combining it with a message of hope and courage.

I’ve been through the adversity, now it’s time to help others get through theirs.

Ministry of Creativity doesn’t end with me…… I’m looking to raise up a generation of people who are willing to step out and speak for the intrinsic need of Humanity to use our creativity.

If you’re interested, please contact me!

But in the mean time, I will be blogging about creative fields, topics like movies, books, art and obviously photography!

I will be starting photography lessons for both individuals and groups and giving tips online.

Photography, my creative field, has helped me in so many ways, so I know it will help others also.

I have new and innovative ways I will be doing this, so stay tuned.Thanks for reading my first post! Here we go!!!!!!!