Meet Jp Seabright

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jp Seabright. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with JP below.

Hi JP, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

I turn my attention to something else.

I often find I get my best ideas when I’m least expecting them, often in the middle of the night (not always helpful!) but frequently when I’m engrossed in a different artform. I’m predominantly a writer, although I do dabble with visual art and sound poetry. Getting up from my desk when I’m stuck with writing prose or poetry, and going for a walk can help. Particularly if I can surround myself, however briefly, with trees. Trees are good. Important to both the planet’s health and our own. But moving oneself from a state of focused intention, which can often feel frustrating when blocked, to one of unfocused but open attention can be very freeing.

I listen to music a lot, when writing and otherwise, but often it is background to my thoughts and creative practice. Forcing myself to stop writing and just listen, especially when physically moving and changing my state, can be really helpful. Looking at art, reading something by someone else, even picking a book up at random and seeing what images or ideas the words you happen to glance upon might initiate, Being open to everything, but without that pressure of a deadline or a sense of ‘I must be writing now!’

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a queer, disabled writer living in London (UK). I have always wanted to write, ever since I was a young child, but never felt I was good enough or had much to say. I made a few sporadic attempts to knuckle down and produce my ‘magnum opus’ over the years, but with my lack of confidence, poor health, and need to work full-time (when well enough to do so) it was difficult to find the time and energy to do so. Plus, I did not have the kind of parents who would support this, or show much interest in my choice of creative pursuits.

It took having a child at the age of 47 (my wife is the birth mother) to prompt me into just doing it and not caring what others might think. Strange how a period in my life when I had even less time and energy somehow forced me to finally fulfil this passion. Carpe diem.

Six months after the birth of our daughter the global Covid pandemic hit. I know for many people this was an opportunity to focus on creative and other pursuits out of the normal constraints of work and it offered some respite from the isolation that lockdown brought to so many. This was not the case for me, since I had a young baby to look after, as my wife had to go back to work after her brief maternity leave.

I’m now 51 and have published six solo chapbooks and four collaborations. The novel is still work in progress, but nearly finished!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Don’t wait for anyone else’s permission – whether it’s to pursue your creative interests, or to do anything else. There will not be a point in your life when you think – right, that’s it, I’m ready now. Anytime is good to start. Give yourself the permission you need.

Don’t compare your journey, your outcomes and objectives with anyone else. This is difficult, as we live in an inherently competitive world focused on sales, or likes, or numbers of followers. But you need to do you. Success can be measured in myriad ways, and only by yourself.

Keep going! There’s often little monetary compensation for creative activities, so that needs to not be your prime motivation. Difficult, I know, since generally we all need money to live. Find a way to fit it into your daily life, whether it’s paid or not. It would be wonderful if we could all be paid fairly for the value that art and creativity brings to human lives, While we wait for that revolution, ensure that your creative pursuits and passions at least bring your purpose, and joy,

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am always interested in collaboration! I would do way more, as my time and energy allow, but of particular interest right now is combining my text (whether prose or poetry) with music/soundscapes and/or with visual art of some kind.

I’ve been fortunate to have published four books of collaborations already, all very different, but I’d like to expand this further away from the page also.

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JP Seabright

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