One of the best things about joining a book club is the fact that you are introduced to titles that you normally wouldn’t choose for yourself. Last month my nonfiction group picked Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking—or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Let People Help. Not only is it an entertaining and easy read, it is also filled with thoughts and ideas about honesty, feelings of adequacy, being a writer and other acts of creation, trusting ourselves, accepting love, getting paid for our art, and the power of social media. Going far beyond the difference between asking and begging, Palmer’s book is a manifesto on ways to look at the world from a position of connection and wholeness. It is stuffed with plenty of meaty ideas for a two-hour book club as well as a blog post or two. [Read more…]
The Gift of Boredom and How To Master Your Digital Literacy
I have a confession to make. I’m an information addict. In case you aren’t aware, I love reading about all sorts of things in books, magazines, online and just about anywhere I can find it. But a report I discovered yesterday reminded me that too much of anything is not always good. In fact, information-overload is the consequence of a constant search for all things new and interesting. And as I’ve just learned, by cramming every moment with either information or entertainment, I distract myself from the gifts of boredom. As any creative person knows, that downtime is where new original ideas flow. In other words, if we want to be inspired, we would do well to give ourselves the gift of boredom on a regular basis and learn to master our digital literacy. [Read more…]
Julia Cameron, Retirement, and The Creative Journey
I first read Julia Cameron’s The Artist Way back in the early 90s. I still have that original copy and freely admit how one part of it transformed my life for the better. Because of Julia, I started writing, by hand, three pages of random thoughts each and every morning and continue today nearly 25 years later. Those Morning Pages, as Julia calls them, have helped to make me not only the writer I am today but the person I’ve become. So when I discovered Julia had published a new book titled, It’s Never Too Late To Begin Again—Discovering Creativity & Meaning at Midlife and Beyond, I bought it and prepared myself to be re-inspired and potentially transformed. [Read more…]
The Courage To Live Your Creativity With Stubborn Delight
My mother Alice Pfeif was an artist. In middle age when all her daughters were grown and gone, she blossomed as a painter. A deep lover of horses and most animals, Mom painted hundreds of pictures of animals using photos and her imagination. Gradually she evolved into sculpting, working with paper, clay and bronze. Although she sometimes created art true to life, nearly half the time she made playful, funny art with animals doing unexpected things. One of her best was a huge circus elephant sitting on a couch with a trainer holding court. Unfortunately, her art teacher at the time had the gall to tell her that her elephant sculpture wasn’t art at all. He claimed, “Art is supposed to be serious!” Fortunately, she ignored him, entered the piece in a local art show, and won first place. Although I was oblivious at the time, I now know my mom created her art with tremendous courage and stubborn delight. I desperately hope to follow her example. [Read more…]