-
Book Review: Welcome to the Writer’s Life by Paulette Perhach
This books is targeted towards people who want to become writers. It begins with motivation for getting started and information about making a habit of writing. As the book continues, it talks about tips and what practical skills you need to develop to live the writer’s life and profession. Getting Started – Routines for the Writer’s Life My favorite sections were the beginning few sections. They talk about getting started, establishing a writing routines and reading like a writer. The book mixes stories from the author’s life and advice from other authors with the explanation for what you should try and I found it motivating and helpful. The book is…
-
Book Review: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
This book is small and cute like the kind of thing you would get as a Christmas gift for you artsy friend. It’s the kind of visually appealing book that would catch your eye in the checkout line at Barnes and Noble and suck you in. Its quick read text layout and the appealing black and white graphic design make it a fun and easy read. I read the whole thing in one sitting and it left me feeling inspired and holding on to the following concrete takeaways: 1) All creative work builds off the work of other earlier artists. The author encourages us to dig deep into the works…
-
Six Tips to Manage Your Creative Works in Progress
You can do everything, but not all at once! Are you the type of person who has a variety of creative interests? If your creativity branches off in many different directions, you might have several projects going at once. Your creative goals and dreams may be overwhelming. There may be a variety of art supplies cluttering up your spare room. Nothing is getting finished! How can we keep making progress in our creative work when our creative interests send us in many different directions? 1) Get all your ideas down in one place The first step to organizing your creative impulses is to get all your ideas down in one…
-
Big Picture, Small Steps: What if I’m overwhelmed thinking about my goals?
When you read about goal setting, people suggest you visualize what achieving the goal would look like. You write about your ideal day or make a vision board. All of these activities help you lay out what you would like to do in so much detail you can taste it. But what if step one is incredibly far from the vision in your head – like comically far away? It can be overwhelming and create resistance toward even getting started down the path to achieving your goals. Where do you start? Here are a few steps to keep in mind. 1) Find your next step and focus on that Life…
-
Nailing the Basics in Everyday Life
Matt Dixon coaches professional triathletes to prepare them for international competition. In his Purple Patch podcast, which discusses maximizing performance in sport and life, he talks about the importance of “nailing the basics.” For his triathlon team, that means the athletes should eat well, hydrate well, and sleep well before they worry about trying new supplements or the latest training fad. Most of performance success comes from doing the simple foundational steps on a consistent basis. This concept got me thinking about what “nailing the basics” might mean in relation to living a full-color life. What are the key components of intentional living that we should focus on? If we…
-
Finding time – 5 easy ways to block out more time for creativity
Creativity takes time to develop. If your creative pursuits need to compete with with your full-time job and family obligations, you may wonder if you have time to improve your craft at all. How on earth are you going to get to practice your 10,000 hours if you can’t find time to do your creative pursuits? I’m a mom with four kids. I work outside the home, or at least I used to before COVID. Now, my office is a TV tray in my bedroom. My job takes up much of the time when the kids are in school. If your life is busy with other responsibilities, you need to…
-
New Endeavors: What if I’m not a Creative Person?
When children play, their creativity is obvious. Kids imagine and build. They sing and paint. Often you see them playing pretend with complex back stories using their vivid imaginations. While almost every child has active creative interests, the grown-ups I talk to often say “but I’m not a creative person” or “I was never good at art in school.” While it’s true that one person might be more creative than another, we all have creative possibilities deep in our DNA. Even early humans painted on cave walls, and you have an instinct for creative self-expression, too. You just need to tap into it by taking the first step. Some of…
-
Getting Out of My Head and Recharging
In the book, Breathing Under Water, Fr. Richard Rohr states that most people spend too much time in our head space and need to connect more with our heart space. The head space encompasses our logical brain where we think and plan. The other aspect of being human is to be connected with the heart space. He says “the heart space is often opened by ‘right brain’ activities such as music, art, dance, nature, fasting, poetry games, life-affirming sexuality, and, of course, the art of relationships itself.” The book discusses that many people are only in their head space but rarely in touch with the heart space. This disconnect can…
-
You never regret swimming in a lake
I love to swim, but I don’t have much tolerance for cold water. At the ocean or a cold mountain lake, I stick my foot in and feel the bone chilling cold. It makes me step back and question if it’s really worth it to get in the water or not. Maybe it would just be easier to go for a walk along the beach or stay on the blanket. Once I get myself into the the water, it’s always a fresh thrill. I love swimming in the open water and I never regret pushing past that initial discomfort and getting my whole self in. I’ve made myself my own…
-
Book Review – Barbara Sher’s Refuse to Choose
Barbara Sher is a well-known speaker and author on personal growth topics. I don’t know how I missed her because I love reading self help books, but she is a classic author in the field. The title of this book captivated me – Refuse to Choose – Use all of your passions, interests and hobbies to create the life and career of your dreams. I have always wanted to major in everything and have a ton of hobbies and interests, so it sounded right up my alley. Barbara calls the target audience of her book “scanners” which which she defines as a person wired to be interested in a wide…