Author Archives: Paul Ariss

THE GYM VERSUS THE SOFA – MAN’S ETERNAL STRUGGLE

It’s a wet, cold Monday night in February. I had planned to go to the gym as part of my three-day training routine. But the house is warm and the sofa is…responsive. It’s old, it knows how I like things, it encourages me to slouch like the evil soft furnishings monster it is. I startContinue reading “THE GYM VERSUS THE SOFA – MAN’S ETERNAL STRUGGLE”

WHEN A PICTURE TELLS A STORY STILL TO BE WRITTEN

What is the favourite photo you have ever taken? What is about it that makes the image so special? When I was asked this recently, I considered a photo taken of my father a couple of years before he passed away, back when he was still relatively healthy, delighted to be with two of hisContinue reading “WHEN A PICTURE TELLS A STORY STILL TO BE WRITTEN”

FIVE THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR TODAY

What are the main things that we should be grateful for but are most likely to take for granted? Do we ever even think about them until they are under threat? When prompted recently to think of five things I am most grateful for it was good to stop and consider those things upon whichContinue reading “FIVE THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR TODAY”

9 PIECES OF ADVICE I WOULD OFFER MY TEENAGE SELF

When I was a teenager, which of course covers the years when we are fully cocooned in school, to the years when we are released to the ‘freedoms’ of getting a job and actually earning money, we make many wrong choices and waver between undeserved confidence to unnecessary insecurity. I was more the latter, inContinue reading “9 PIECES OF ADVICE I WOULD OFFER MY TEENAGE SELF”

THE DOMINO EFFECT OF FALLING FRIENDSHIPS

Friendships are part of the bedrock of life. Even the more casual friendships can bring colour and humour and help with perspective. The banter (the type that is convivial and teasing and not the Yorkshire Cricket Club racist brand), can help us to not take ourselves too seriously and lighten our moods amid the stressesContinue reading “THE DOMINO EFFECT OF FALLING FRIENDSHIPS”

THE FEAR OF SELF-PROMOTION FOR THE CONSTANTLY NERVOUS

One of the downsides to having to promote my songs or blogs is the need to do exactly that – promote. I’m not a promote type person. My moniker is not Promotion Paul. At school my fellow pupils would never have voted me as Pupil Most Likely to Promote. However, since I somewhat accidentally startedContinue reading “THE FEAR OF SELF-PROMOTION FOR THE CONSTANTLY NERVOUS”

MY TRUEST FAITH IN THE CALIFORNIA DREAM THAT’S QUIETLY COME TRUE

A song of mine, Your Truest Faith, has just been selected for the playlist of internet radio station South California Singer-Songwriter Radio based in Rosemead, near Los Angeles. It’s probably not a career-changing moment but for myself, who saw the California singer-songwriter scene of the late 70’s and 80’s as the holy grail for anyoneContinue reading “MY TRUEST FAITH IN THE CALIFORNIA DREAM THAT’S QUIETLY COME TRUE”

FROM SCRIBBLES TO SPOTIFY – THE UNCOMFORTABLE BIRTH OF A SONG

The insecurity around releasing a song can be creatively traumatic. What if it’s rubbish? What if I’ve inadvertently stolen it? What if I love it and no-one else does? Can I still change my name and live in an igloo without any internet connection? Putting a song onto streaming platforms such as Spotify and AppleContinue reading “FROM SCRIBBLES TO SPOTIFY – THE UNCOMFORTABLE BIRTH OF A SONG”

LOOKING AHEAD TO THOSE POST-PANDEMIC RUBBERNECK DAYS

Sitting in traffic on Tuesday morning it was hard not to get lockdown nostalgia. The hour- long delay to my journey brought about a reminder of a world it was easy to think lay in the distant past. It was my first traffic jam for over a year. Yet it felt so depressingly familiar. TheContinue reading “LOOKING AHEAD TO THOSE POST-PANDEMIC RUBBERNECK DAYS”