Resolution: Find Your (Business or Life) Passion
If reading about all those creativity tips gets you excited about changing your life, here's one to read on finding your passion, whether that's for life in general or more specifically, in your career.
The Firestarter Sessions: a soulful & practical guide to creating success on your own terms / Danielle LaPorte
New York: Harmony Books, c2012.
333 p.
Danielle LaPorte is a cheerful, passionate life and business coach, well known now for her website and her many courses, books and products.When I first saw The Firestarter Sessions a couple of years ago, though, it was my introduction to her work. I've just reread it, and been re-energized by it at this time of year.
The format of the book reminds me of my recent David Usher read: it also has random sized fonts on various pages, and lots of questions and lists to fill out. Here's one example of the interior, from her website:
It's bigger and more content-heavy, however. LaPorte is a very strong, encouraging, positive voice whose specialty is business & entrepreneurship. She's run various online businesses & been successful in many areas. Now she's sharing her experience. It's a bit "girlfriendy" for me, but not too much so - it didn't put me off the book at all. Nor did it stop me from checking out her website and the many programs & resources there. I guess I'm late to the game with Laporte -- she is apparently one of Oprah's "Super Soul 100". Things I didn't know...
Anyhow, this read ties in nicely to the whole idea of expanding creative ways of thinking, in this case focused on personal development. The tone is firm and positive - she is an Oprah/Marie Forleo/Gretchen Rubin kind of writer. But she also has an edge of take-no-crap Canadianness that I really enjoy ;) If you're ready for a book that requires honesty from the reader, this would be it.
I find her style and the content of this book inspiring, for real. The questions she asks really help to move past the excuses we all make to ourselves, and to identify what it is that we want to happen -- and then what needs to be done to get there. No thinking small or yes-butting here. This is a book that would reward rereads and re-working of the questions and answers each time you engage with it. I can see it being helpful especially to those who are ready to make changes, and who are accustomed to writing their way toward finding answers for themselves. If you are thinking about life changes this year, check this book out, and then take a visit to LaPorte's website for more.
Resolution: Be More Creative
If one of your resolutions this year is to amp up your creative juices, either of these recent reads might be helpful!
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear / Elizabeth Gilbert
New York: Riverhead Books, c2015.
276 p.
Another book by an author I am generally dubious about... Gilbert's Eat Pray Love has to be one of the books I've disliked most in recent years. Argh, so self centred! But I gave this one a try because of its topic.
And it's not bad. I like the focus on personal, everyday creativity. There are some pretty interesting points that she makes. The idea that we just have to show up, to be ready to do the creative work, is key. Persistence is the point that resonated most with me. She covers other areas, like Courage - managing and working through fears and expectations of greatness or horribleness in one's art. Or Permission; to give yourself the name of artist/creative person without having to be "successful" to do so. There are many things I enjoyed and noted down from my reading of this book.
But like many other readers, I have mixed feelings about it. Unfortunately, Gilbert's disingenuous argument that the arts are not as necessary as things like plumbing or roofing, that you shouldn't quit your day job, that most people won't succeed so just be happy with your mediocre hobby (well, I am also being a bit disingenuous here and perhaps overstating her case in my annoyance) bothers me, coming from someone who has made quite a career in the arts, via her creative life. I think she was trying to reduce the sense of perfectionism & fear that keeps people from beginning anything, but perhaps went a little far in the opposite direction!
Anyhow, this is supposed to be a recommendation for a book to help you with your creativity! And if you aren't bothered by some of the things I've mentioned you may really love this one. Even I was inspired by it, and found some good takeaways. Gilbert still seems awfully self-satisfied to me, but if this book were distilled down into something more like the length and breadth of her TED Talk on the topic, it would be just right.
Let The Elephants Run: Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything / David Usher
Toronto: Anansi, c2015.
227 p.
As the blurb for this book states: creativity is not magic; it is a learnable skill that any person or business can master.
So, equal but opposite approaches to the genius of creativity between these two books!
This book has much more of a freestyle, creative feel in its own right as a physical object. The pages are covered by random large font statements, colour, illustrations, lists for the reader to write things in, and there are even some photos tossed in there. Usher both recognizes that creativity shows up differently for different people and states that creative people can use that creativity outside of their original "field". For example, he always thought that his creativity was linked to music, but began to realize that his creative way of looking at the world, of understanding things, was applicable to his other interests in tech and business. So one's creativity can be brought to focus on varied areas of life. I love this. It's so true, and important to recognize the many sides to a creative mind.
He ponders his own experiences, and shares his thoughts on the two pillars of creative success: freedom and structure. Everything he says ties these two elements together. I enjoyed this book and found it quite inspiring, and fun to read. I must admit I saw David Usher speak at a library conference a couple of years ago, and he performed one of the creative exercises he discusses in this book: it was delightful in person, and I found the book just as charming as he was as a speaker - he is quite charismatic. So this may have coloured my experience of reading this...but it's still a good read for anyone interested in creativity and how to foster it in everyday life.
So, get out there and create :)
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Further Reading:
Another book on creativity that is based in the author's world is Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit. It's a little more intense, perhaps, and delves more deeply into the necessity for discipline as an artist. But it's one that I find very, very inspiring, even if I will never be a full-time dancer, or artist of any sort, myself.
