Why Art Matters
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
2y ago
I grew up believing art was the least important thing in life.  Music, reading, writing—they all had to wait. Homework came first. I had to help with chores. The dog (or other pet-of-the-month) needed attention. Art sat securely at the bottom of my revolving to-do list.  Don’t get me wrong, those other things were important. But I learned that artistic things were luxury. They were play. And one must work first and play afterwards. I repressed my art for a long time, believing it should be the lowest priority in my day.  I repressed my art for a long time, believing it should ..read more
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Living Waters of Creativity
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
2y ago
‘It’s a good song,’ he said to her, ‘It’s just the first verse that needs a little more work.’  We were sitting in a semi-circle, me and a handful of other Christian songwriters. One woman had taken the courageous step of sharing her song with us. We were in the delicate process of giving her some constructive feedback.  She shook her head. ‘Write the first verse again?’ she said with a hint of disbelief. ‘Do you have any idea how hard it was to write that verse first time around?’  A giggle rippled around the semi-circle. We have all been there. We know how hard it is to wrest ..read more
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Birthing Babies
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
2y ago
I sent off another copy of Surviving Childlessness this week and, as always, I felt like I was saying goodbye to my baby.  Birthing a book baby is a strange feeling. I am overjoyed at the result, a book I can hold in my hands that looks and feels exactly as I always imagined it would. But when the moment of separation comes and my baby passes out of my hands, worried questions flood my mind: ‘Will my book be OK?’ ‘Do they like it?’ ‘Will they treasure it as I do, or will they throw it in the trash??’  Worried questions flood my mind. It is a loss of control I will have t ..read more
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My Baby Book
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
Tomorrow is the launch of my new book, Surviving Childlessness. And it feels like I’m birthing a baby. (It’s possible to give birth, even when you are childless.)  This is not the only time I have felt like I have birthed something other than a biological child. When my first book was published, I felt the same way. To a lesser extent, each song and blog I publish feels that way too. There is a sense of release, of giving a piece of myself away to others.  So as tomorrow’s book launch looms large, I feel my inner expectation growing.  As tomorrow’s book launch l ..read more
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Leaving Legacies
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
One of the largest pieces of my childlessness grief is the loss of legacy. I wanted to leave legacies like passing on family heirlooms to the next generation. Things like jewellery, ornaments and prized possessions. I wanted to impart a love of books and music, such as Winnie-the-Pooh and classic rock bands of the 60s. But the legacy grief runs deeper than that. I wanted to encourage values and beliefs held dear to me. With my husband and I both being Christians, we had planned and hoped to share Jesus with our kids. I had pictured our two little ones running around singing kids’ praise songs ..read more
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Love Is A Diamond
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
Love has many facets. It can be fun, passionate, enduring, broken, healed, playful, reverent, bold, intimate, verbose and silent. It has highs and lows and plateaus. It can have different chapters, like a book, and it can deepen and mellow with age, like a fine wine. It can be like a multi-faceted diamond. This presents the songwriter with a challenge. It is difficult to work all these facets into one love song. I think it is impossible. There is always something more about love that could be said. Just think about how many love songs you know. Describing God’s love is an even greater challen ..read more
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The Worship Suite
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
Ever since I can remember, I have loved singing to God. When I was a child, I would put on kids’ praise and worship cassette tapes (yes, I am betraying my age here) and sing my lungs out. I know that I sang my lungs out because my parents would tell me. In no uncertain terms. As a teenager, I often encountered God during the praise and worship part of church services. The worship seemed to connect with me. We are all different in how we naturally meet with God: some meet him in reading the Bible, others in hearing a sermon, still others in prayer. I have always met God in music. I have alway ..read more
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Creative Compost
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
I wrote a blog earlier today. And it stank. It stank like a bucket of prawns in the sun. It stank like a drain. It stank so much it took my mind off the stinky cat litter in the next room. It stank like a compost heap. Why am I writing about a stinky blog? Because I think we, as creatives, are too quick to cover up our vulnerabilities. There. I said it. We are too quick to cover up our vulnerabilities. We feel vulnerable all the time. We try to escape it, to cover it up with shows of strength or self-depreciating humour. But it is still there, festering out of sight. Like a backyard compost ..read more
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Go With The Flow
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
When I wake up on my writing day, my brain is often awash with creative ideas and projects. I sometimes have several competing blog ideas swirling around in my head. It can be hard to know which one to blog. And it is not just blogging that fires up my creativity. There is the allure of my book. I can feel it calling to me, whispering my name, reminding me of the editing awaiting me. I also have numerous musical projects on the boil. They are calling me too. All of these creative projects constantly jostle and elbow each other, trying to be top dog on my to-do list. The practical upshot of th ..read more
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Our Days Are Numbered
Steph Penny's
by Steph Penny
3y ago
Why did the calendar get depressed? Because it felt like its days were numbered. Creatives are plagued with a sense of time constraint. They worry about getting things done, or not, as is often the case. This can be particularly problematic if you have a deadline to meet with money or other important things at stake. My biggest fear as a creative is unfinished work. I worry about not completing my projects. And it is not just because I do not like to leave things half-done. Although that is also true. (Anybody else a perfectionist?) I worry they will never get out into the world. A creative p ..read more
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