Positivity

I've left it a bit late but always keen to make sure I get a post in for the month and let you all know what I've been up to outside of the twitter updates and the latest number of press ups I can bang out thanks to Pete Reed and #PUC2014. This one is probably a bit more philosophical than normal and not entirely photography related so bear that in mind if you've chosen to keep reading.

It's funny as I've been to'ing and fro'ing with a lot of ideas recently as to what I'd be blogging about because, like everybody, one month seems to fly into the next at the minute and as my buddy Matt Hart would profess there aren't enough hours in the day. It was brilliant to have met up in person at last Matt by the way and we definitely could see Jane this time as well! When you are stuck in the office 9-5 which is where I happen to be Monday to Friday it can get monotonous at times! Then just like a light bulb (all will become clear or not if you don't turn it on) it struck me. I thought about my mood and the positive and negative effects of the things that people do and say that influence it everyday.

A number of people have done that this month probably without even realising it and no matter how much you love or hate social media generally speaking if you approach it with the right attitude you'll probably get more from it than you originally had bargained for. I'm not going to highlight all of them in this short post but let me just give you a couple of examples from a few people I happen to follow. Some probably don't normally see these posts so I'll be hitting them up with a tweet just to make sure.  I'm not one for posting quotes and phrases myself but that doesn't mean to say I don't look at  and take some of them into consideration. One that caught my eye this month was from NI based fitness guru Luke Haslett. I've never met the man in question but I can't help but admire his dedication and commitment to his training. My morning tweets and chats with the Breakfast Club boys normally consist with the majority of us just about managing to lift the duvet cover at 0630 whereas this man is up at the crack of dawn putting the miles and hard work in to get the body most of us can only dream about. I know that's his full time role but either way you need the right attitude and drive to do that on a regular basis. If I can take a little piece of that and build it into my lifestyle then even better.  I love my training and have done so ever since I got the bug back in the 90's....getting on a bit now though! Anyway here's the quote I was referring to.

Luke Haslett - "Surround yourself with people who are positive and uplift you. Individuals who drain you are TOXIC to your happiness! They have no place in your life"

Moving swiftly on then to my next bit of motivation. Music - who doesn't love it?
I'll listen to anything and everything and my taste is so varied you probably wouldn't believe it. I was/am partial to a bit of heavy metal and would still crank on Metallica and heavier every now and again when I take a notion and after a brief stint with the Technics 1210's and a short lived DJ career(I knew I should never have sold them!) my favourite genre albeit in it's many varied forms would be dance music. It never fails to brighten your day and none more so than the legend from Larne who is now actually based in Las Vegas and living the dream as they say! The man in question is Fergie and his Arcadia podcasts on a Friday certainly lift my mood....as he would say himself, keep 'er lit!

Last but not least I'd like to give the folks from the Breakfast Club a quick mention as there's always at least one among the bunch that lifts the mood or makes you think about the other side of the fence if you like and I had the pleasure of meeting up with a number of them last week at the UK Photography Show and they were all as genuine as the online persona's betray. I also managed to catch a number of other folks from Twitter although I think I might have taken a few by surprise by actually following through on my actions and introducing myself in person. Hopefully I didn't frighten you too much!!! Blokes with Northern Irish accents always tend to stand out like a sore thumb when we start talking in these places so I'm hoping the worried looks won't be as bad next time around or at least you'll know to hide when you see me. Just wanted to give a special mention to David Kelly and Simon Allen, always taking time to keep in touch as well as sharing and it's much appreciated guys. Great to see Mr K with chilli goodies in tow and just a shame you couldn't have made the show as well Simon, next time sir. As Will C hinted a G+ group meet or photo-walk needs to be planned for next year ;)

Finally, in keeping with the positive vibes here's one that incorporates a bit of the old electro house and photography all in one. It's so true and it makes me laugh.