Be The Only Why trying to be yourself beats trying to be the best. A personal story about fear, public speaking, and daring to be “the only”.

Don't be the Best. Be the Only!
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#BeTheOnly #Authenticity #PersonalGrowth #PublicSpeaking #Toastmasters #CreativeLife #SelfExpression #Courage

Easter for an Atheist (who used to believe). Check out my latest Substack:
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

Easter for an Atheist Thesis, Antithesis … Synthesis?

I was born into faith. I once trained for the priesthood. I no longer believe.
So what, if anything, does Easter mean to me now?
In this Substack, Easter for an Atheist, I answer that:
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Easter #Atheism #Humanism #MeaningOfLife #Reflection #Spring #NewBeginnings

Now Is a Good Now Songs, siestas and cycling

Now is a good now.

A new piece—about music, truth, loss, and getting back on the bike.
Oh, and King Donald...
Featuring:
🎵 A new release: My One and Only Life
🎵 A song written with a dear friend before he died
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Politics
#SpeakTruth
#MiddleEastPeace
#Resilience

My One and Only Life, by @JoeArmstrongIE This is your one and only life. Don't waste it. Create the life you want to live today. New song. New Substack. Link below: open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#MyOneAndOnlyLife #SeizeTheDay #LiveFully

Feeling Exhilarated — and Exhausted A good medical report, a birthday adventure, stitches, a returning gym habit—and a new song about to arrive.

Happy days with my big brother celebrating his birthday!
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

Civilizational erasure well underway not in London, Paris or Berlin but in the United States itself — not through immigration or cultural mixing, but through the corrosion of truth and justice at the highest levels of American power.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Trump #power #history #empires

What is Your Personal Mission? A rediscovered purpose, eleven years on

I found a personal mission statement I wrote over a decade ago.
Still relevant. Still useful.
Reflection on values, intention and living well in today’s Substack.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

When I’m 64 (and Still Deciding What I’ll Be When I Grow Up) Time, bodies, front doors, and the quiet urgency of living

Turning 64 soon.
Still not grown up.
Front doors curve. Bodies do too.
Essay on time & living fully:
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#WhenIm64 #TimeAndAging #LivingFully #OneAndOnlyLife #InnerFreedom #Reflections #LifeWriting #SubstackIreland

Endless Storms, a Closed Café, and a Warped Front Door Can Teak, like Cedar, Survive Against the Odds?

A wet week in rural Ireland: sick goldfinches, a warped front door, and a reminder from a cedar tree that “beyond redemption” is sometimes plain wrong!
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#RuralLife #IrishWinter #Hope #Resilience #NatureNotes #EverydayLife #BeyondRedemption

A small rediscovery: a children’s short story I wrote in 1995, shared now just as it was. Available to listen to, or read, for free on Joe the Human Substack. Link below.

The Blue Blanket
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#ShortStory #ChildrensStories #WritingLife #Parenthood #Substack

Paying Attention in Unsettled Times Fruit, a healing back — and the world on edge

Fruit. Coffee. A back that finally works again.
And a Trumpian world that feels dangerously unmoored.
#PayingAttention #PersonalEssay #SubstackWriter #Humanist #WritingLife
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

War, Peace, and Preparation On peace, power, preparation, and responsibility in personal and global conflict, and asking what it means to remain human in an age of dehumanizing power.

Not fearful — more shocked. More concerned that we’re repeating mistakes we already paid dearly to learn.

I wrote about memory, power, and why history keeps knocking when we refuse to answer.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Trump #Putin #Ukraine #greenland #Israel #Gaza #peacesong #history

Other People’s Opinions Are None of My Business A hard-won lesson in adulthood, authenticity, and quiet liberation

Other people's opinions of us are none of our business. New free substack out on freeing ourselves from what other people think.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Authenticity #PersonalGrowth #Boundaries #Conscience #SelfTrust #EmotionalFreedom #LifeLessons #OwnYourPower #Adulting

The Woman Who Became My Mother My chosen family, gratitude, and love

Chosen family can change everything.
A personal essay on gratitude, loss, and finding love.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#ChosenFamily #AdoptedFamily #AdoptedMother #AdoptedFather #Love #Marriage #Ireland #Humanist

Blue Skies, Leaden Skies — and a Song That Saved Me On back pain, despair, unexpected hope — and It’s a Wonderful Life.

New Substack up today: storms outside, storms inside — but also some hope.
We’ve released an acoustic version of our It’s a Wonderful Life-inspired song.
IMRO featured it in their New Music Playlist.
Have a read or listen:
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#ItsAWonderfulLife #Hope #ChristmasSong

World Exclusive: The Riveting, Personal Story of The Rayne Interweaved with his songs

Listen to an amazing conversation with singer-songwriter The Rayne. Going blind in childhood. Losing his mum. Both he and his dad feeling lost. And finding his way through music to meaning, friendship and love.

open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#TheRayne #BlindArtist #Resilience #Songwriting #Leeds

When the Missus Is Away Solitude, Friendship, and Me Bloody Back!

New Substack: solitude, storms, songwriting, backache, Trim Castle, and the joy of finally meeting Andrea Patron in person.
Acoustic Christmas track out 1 Dec! 🎄
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Songwriting #friendship #backache #Ireland #TrimCastle #AcousticMusic

Thank Yourself: The Gratitude We Forget Why the hardest — and most freeing — act of gratitude may be towards yourself

Ever thank yourself? We often forget the most powerful act of gratitude — being grateful for who we’ve become.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#gratitude #self-acceptance #PersonalGrowth #authenticity #memoir #Ireland #JoeArmstrong #inspiration

When the Mind Goes Blank: From Stage Fright to Standing Tall What stage fright taught me about fear, memory, and finding my voice again.

Ever frozen mid-speech—even when you knew every word?
My new Substack: When the Mind Goes Blank — how I went from childhood stage fright to speaking with calm and courage.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#PublicSpeaking #Anxiety #Resilience

Meet the digger and the dog! A humorous tale of trust, toil, and unexpected inspiration. Read or listen to my latest Substack: open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#writing #trust #gardening #homeprojects #humour #reflection #toastmasters #lifeinireland #storytelling

Another round with my old frenemy: my back!

From Paris to Wicklow to the gym, it’s a story of pain, humour, and gratitude.

Me and Me Back! — new free Substack post: open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#IrishHumour #HealingJourney #Gratitude #BackPain

From Illusion to Disappointment: Learning to Live Without Perfection On losing our illusions, sacking ourselves as perfect parents, and hoping for “good enough”

Disillusionment is losing our illusions. Disappointment is losing our false appointments with ourselves.

But maybe “good enough” is the quiet grace left behind.

Read my new Substack here:
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Reflections #Parenting #Disappointment #Imperfection

Fathers, faith, and fleeting lives Chance, choice, and the futures we create

Some dates never leave us. Some lessons fade too quickly.
This Substack is about memory, faith and doubt, and the choices that shape our future — inspired by fathers, history, and the fleeting nature of life.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

Why Do Anything? From Maslow’s pyramid to Johnny Cash’s ‘empire of dirt’

Why do anything? From air and water to love, belonging, and self-actualisation, our lives are a constant balancing act of needs. In my latest Substack, I explore Maslow’s hierarchy and how it plays out in daily life, relationships, and choices.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#Motivation #Purpose

Closer to God in a Storm at Sea Reflections on the life and humanism of Bob Rees (12 June 1936 — 5 August 2025)

Bob Rees was many things: sailor, engineer, critic of religion, jazz lover — and above all, a humanist who lived his values. I’ve written a reflection on his life and humanism. Free to read. #Humanism #BobRees #SecularHumanism #HAI
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

A Substack in Search of a Smile Finding Laughter on the Page

I write about the intoxicating power of laughter, the genius of Michael McIntyre, and Flann O'Brien.
#writerslife #Laughter #Comedy #Comedian #Toastmasters #PublicSpeaking #MichaelMcIntyre #FlannOBrien #AtSwimTwoBirds #Seminary #Funny #Humour #Humor #MichaelMcIntyre
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

Hope and Despair in One Week: What a Family Emergency Taught Me How grief, an unexpected hospital dash, and even a car rental dispute reminded me that hope and darkness walk side by side.

Two days after my cousin’s funeral, another relative was in ICU. By week’s end, we’d faced grief, relief, and even a £1,500 car hire bill. Life is fragile. Here’s what it taught me…
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

Seven Things Life Has Taught Me (So Far) How to Live a Happy Life

Death will come. Sometimes it gives warning; sometimes it doesn’t.

7 lessons I’ve learned about living before dying:
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...

At 4am, the Mind Roars Catastrophic Thinking Tamed

Woke at 4am, brain in catastrophe mode.
Skulls, death dates, fear, injustice…and hope!
New Substack: Now Is a Good Now
Thoughts on mortality, messiness, and the daily rituals that help us hold it all.
open.substack.com/pub/joearmst...
#writing #mortality #journalpractice #reflection #hope #substack