HELLO, IāM DAVID.
Iām thrilled that youāve joined me on this journey; I canāt wait to walk alongside you, just as I hope youāll journey alongside me. In many ways, A Life More Creative is another step on my own journey of discovery. Just as the chapters of my own life story have come and gone, itās only in recent years Iāve come to realise that a common thread has run through them all; that is a feeling of disconnect from the world around me, that somehow, I just donāt belong. For all its faults, the online world has enabled me to connect with others who feel just the same way as I do. Sometimes, there are few better feelings than when you realise youāre not alone. Others feel just the same as I do.
āSOMETIMES, THERE ARE FEW BETTER FEELINGS THAN WHEN YOU REALISE YOUāRE NOT ALONE.ā
ā MY INSTAGRAM
A SLOWER, SIMPLE LIFE.
Just as Iāve craved the slower, simpler life, so Iāve found many others who feel the same. Itās not easy though. In our fast-paced, technology-driven world, these things go firmly against the grain. It can feel like weāre constantly swimming upstream. So whatās my story, and how have my life experiences led to A Life More Creative?
Born in 1983, when there was no such thing as 24-hour television, when few had a computer, there was no internet, and no one had a mobile phone, I was an only child. You could say my creativity started young, as I quickly learned to enjoy my own company and to make my own entertainment.
I enjoyed being outdoors, exploring new places, being taken for days out on the bus and train, to the seaside and countryside. When I went to school, our days were spent making up stories, drawing pictures, moving to music, and learning about the world around us. A love for music developed, and this thread has run through my life and work for over 40 years. Iāve spent over 20 of those teaching flute, piano and singing; composing; accompanying; and latterly, writing about and researching music education. I have run my own business, David Barton Music, since 2001.
ā THE JOURNAL
I was born in Winchester, lived in Gloucester for 23 years, and since 2010, have lived in Lichfield, Staffordshire: itās been cathedral cities all the way. Here, I enjoy baking, cooking, writing, photography, genealogy, local history, and spending time outdoors. I love sharing all these things with my wife, Clementine. But Iāve also enjoyed connecting with like-minded people online, whoāve allowed me to reconnect with some of the things in life which mean the most to me. Theyāve helped me to discover something of what slow, simple and seasonal living means to me, and how, like the common threads of my lifeās story, it is creativity which is at its heart.
A CORE OF CREATIVITY
JUST AS I CONTINUE ON THIS JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY, IāM EXCITED TO SEE WHAT THE FUTURE BRINGS, AND HOW TOGETHER, AS A COMMUNITY, WE CAN REDISCOVER, RECONNECT AND RE-EMERGE.
