Spending a lot of time working in a religious building has given me so many questions and thoughts. 

The political nature that is "religion" aside, the beliefs, the faith and the dedication fascinate me. I sometimes find myself wishing that I could believe in something that much, because it always seems to give people a sense of calm, or perhaps a sense of belonging and comfort. 

I have watched people wipe tears away after kissing the crucifix, and I have seen people stand in religious fervour as they open their arms to accept a higher power. I have watched from the sidelines while they have prayed, or when they have taken Holy Communion. And it strikes me that is is a privilege to photograph what are intimate moments in their lives. 

To be able to spend time taking photographs in a place of worship is something that deserves to be carried out with deep respect. It is not a party or a concert that people are watching and participating in. These are the moments that people are communicating with their God.

What I stand by and witness is faith. Belief. Hope. 

Religion is a difficult subject because of history, and because of the division it can cause. But what if we looked at the similarities instead of the differences? There are always common themes. 

The Buddhist meditation class I attend speaks a lot about abandoning self-cherishing, and focusing instead on compassion and kindness. It can not be a coincidence that other religions also praise these qualities. Christianity talks about "loving thy neighbour as thyself", and the Qur'an says to love and be merciful to our neighbours. 

While I am not a religious person, nor do I adhere to any one book or thought, I do believe that there are some basic qualities of mind that should be nurtured and developed. I also believe that there are some qualities of mind which are definitely not helpful.

It is interesting that people are turning away from religion, and when they experience problems they now turn to psychologists and councillors instead. Psychology is the scientific approach to thought patterns and "correcting" them. It is a recognition that the mind has the power to control the way we see the world. We just have to learn to use the right filters to see. 

The newspapers thrive on telling us how bad the world is. There is a bias towards the negative (bad news sells and all that).  But if we stop reading all of that content and, instead, focus on good things, you'd be amazed by the kindness out there. 

What is also fascinating is the idea of constancy. That moments define who people are. It is easy to think that the person who cut you up on the roundabout must be a bastard all the time (not that he might have been in a daydream, or that circumstances meant he was in a panic to get somewhere), but we all know that experiences pass. 

The idea of having, and cherishing, a constant "me" or "I" which blatantly doesn't exist (even science has recently discovered this to be true). But perhaps that is where Buddhism and Christianity are divided - that Christianity seems to focus on the senses (body/food/smell), Buddhism teaches about the nature of emptiness.

Spending time in a building with the smell of frankincense wafting around you in a light haze, and the sound of silence does give space in the mind which encourages a lot of thought.  But what if there are no answers to my questions, and my thoughts are leading to the proverbial rabbit hole. 

It surprises me all the time where photography has taken me. I am an observer, and I treat the responsibility and the sensitivity that is needed with the seriousness that it deserves. 

No one ever says that freelance work or starting your own business is easy... I'm not going to either.

That's because working for yourself is hard. Everything about it is hard except for the hot summer days that you can sneak down to the beach, only to realise you have to play catch up when you get home.

3 years ago I started my own business.

I abandoned my job with very little in the bank. You could say that it was irresponsible. I would say that it was bold. It was an act of bravery to step out of the expectation of a career to live, instead, for my dreams.

It has been one hell of a ride. In my first year, I was really sick. Like visits to the hospital and taking morphine kind of sick. My second year was about recovery and my third about discovering what I enjoyed about my work. And now? I can feel that this is going to be the best year yet.

I've met so many people on the way, learned so many things and I am really only just beginning. 

How amazingly lucky am I to be able to photograph people in the best moments. Their happiest moments. The times when they are enjoying what they are doing, or when they are having a moment in time that they will want to remember for ever?

Photography is a privilege like no other. It is personal. It is getting to know people. It is about capturing the best moments, documenting lives. That makes my job worth everything. :)

The Paradoxical Society

Has our society become selfish and mean-spirited? 

We have the press that shame those who clearly need help, or they raise hell about "fake homeless" and benefit frauds. People I know complain about "foreigners who come to this country to take up our benefits", or the "lazy bastards who are taking our hard earned money to live the life of Riley".

People like Ant McPartlin don't need to be publicly humiliated, he's most likely in a bad enough place as it is. That he is being used as a marketing piece to sell trashy newspapers is morally corrupt. People in bad situations need support not beratement.

The recent story of a "millionaire businessman" in Torbay photographing and so-called outing "fake homeless" people. Senseless. 

There are lifestyle choices you can make, like whether you are a fitness king or queen, or a sofa sloth, but choosing to sleep out on the streets during the recent snows and minus temperatures? I don't think that's a choice somehow, the reason is irrelevant. It's not like they're doing it to inconvenience others.

There used to be a time when we would provide night shelters for the homeless, and give them warm soup. Now we walk past them and blame them for getting into the situation they are in. 

Just when you think our society can get no lower...there is hope. 

The new generation are more generous and willing to donate more on average to charities. In fact, the British public in general are increasing the amount of charitable giving. (2.9% in the UK in 2017), and most people report donating money from time to time.

The recent snow storms gave the opportunity for people to shine. There was more neighbourliness...and people actually talked in the streets. Some owners of 4x4s were offering to take NHS staff to and from work. A group of 4x4 owners in Devon (the Devon and Cornwall 4x4 Response group) volunteered their vehicles and time to transport vital supplies and support the police and medics when needed.

These are the stories that give a different side to our society that is so at odds with the negative stories that the mainstream media press upon us. 

Our society is living in a paradox. We want Britain to be great but we fail to witness its decline. A great society cannot be judged by its wealth but its happiness. And a great society can measure its equality not disparity.

With  1 in 4 of us likely to experience a mental health problem each year, and a growing rift between rich and poor (According to the Equality Trust, the "top fifth" of the population earns 40% of the income, and the richest 10% of households hold 45% of all wealth). The level of inequality is increasing. And we all know that Brexit and austerity benefits the rich, while the poor shoulders the burden.

And then there is the faith paradox. Our so-called political leaders who claim that they use their Christian values to guide them, while their actions are very different. If their values guided them, why did a rough sleeper die outside parliament? And why would they be dismantling and selling the NHS for profit when it has such a negative impact on our health?

Life is not all doom and gloom, although those negative stories certainly help sell papers.There is actually a tremendous amount of kindness. The kindness might not be consistent (just because someone donates to an animal charity doesn't mean that they're going to offer a cup of tea to a rough sleeper on the street), but where there is the seed of kindness, there is always hope.

The thing with a paradox is that two things can't exist at once. In much the same way that time lines can not exist together, the paradoxical illusions we have created will at some point implode on us and we will have to establish a new truth. One, of course, that I am sure will be carefully guided by the press and the spin doctors while we immerse ourselves in the latest binge-worthy Netflix series.

[Random fact - Did you know that £189 million was raised in 2015 by bake sales alone?]

Resolve the cause and you won't need to treat the symptoms.

Why do the motivation gurus write so many books?

If their step by step plans and "powerful" words actually worked, surely only one book would be necessary. In fact, if one person's wisdom was enough, why are there so many other people out there who claim that their systems are the ones that will work?

Oh, and while we are on that point, did you know that we have a system which is biased: we tend to record the successes more than the failures! No one reads books from failed entrepreneurs, after all. For every successful entrepreneur, there are probably dozens of failed ones.

There has to be a measure for what counts as success and in our society we have decided that wealth is it. If you don't earn enough to meet that mark, you are seen to be a failure in some way and all these business gurus exist to tell you how to reach the heights society expects of you. No one thinks that, perhaps, it is the measurement for success that is the problem...in fact that there is a measurement at all.

In the same way, psychologists have to decide what is 'normal' in order to recognise mental health disorders and THEN they can "treat" you so that you fit in the nice little square boxes and, more often than not, into the tick box exercises to satisfy national statistics and targets.

I could rant about this one for a long time.

What if there is no normal. If one in five of us suffer or have suffered from a mental health disorder, then it suggests that there is a problem with the measurement, and most definitely a problem with the treatment.  

It is a symptom of our society, and quite frankly a derivative of commercialism, to fix the symptoms and not the problem.

We treat anxiety and depression with medication and sessions to change our thought patterns when, quite often, a change of circumstances is required.

We are told that we should treat lack of action with motivation. It is pretty hard to be motivated when you are not inspired.

We put taxes on plastic carrier bags that puts the onus on the customer and not the supplier to find a sustainable solution. It is not the customer that produces or even demands plastic bags, it is the retailer who wants to cut costs by using cheap plastic that can have their logo printed on for advertising.

This is my first blog in a very long time and I have no idea where I am going with this mild morning rant.

I have suffered with writer's block for the last ten years but that time is drawing to an end. I'm kind of sick of hearing people tell me that writer's block is ridiculous....you just have to write! If only the solution could be that easy. Oh wait, there is no magic pill for that.

Writer's block is a symptom. Much like a headache could be a symptom of stress, or it could be a symptom of a hangover. Yes you can treat the headache with a couple of painkillers but if it's a hangover, you will be wanting to drink more water or if it's a sign of stress then you will want to reduce your stress otherwise you will get a repeat of the symptom. Pointless, isn't it.

My writer's block was down to a few different things which I have mostly resolved. I have also discovered the following:

Firstly, to be able to write, you have to have something to say.

Secondly, you have to have the inspiration to say it.

And, finally, you have to have the motivation to write it.

Cure the cause, and there's no need to treat the symptoms.