A Long Uninterrupted Quiet Moment
Yesterday, after making dinner (something I don’t have to do that often thankfully because my wonderful husband loves to experiment on us..yippee!) we decided we would head to the bookstore for a coffee and some alone time…no kids or appointments looming.
FOUR hours later…..yes a whole four hours….we rolled out of Barnes and Noble quite satiated, complete and whole again. Upon entering the bookstore hubby went off to commandeer the comfy chairs and purchased the coffees (although mine is usually a chai tea latte) while I walked the store gathering my stash of books and mags I wanted to read….all 20 or so of them.
We sat down, comfortably settled into our chairs, sipped our drinks and started reading, occasionally talking or showing one another something that caught our eye. I knew I would be purchasing that night cause for my birthday my friend and neighbor got me a B&N gift card so I was happy contemplating which book(s) I would be bring home to savor some more.
As I got to the cash register hubby noted the time with a horrified “Is that the TIME?????”. I calmly asked him what the offending time was and he broadcast to the unperturbed store clerk that we had spent the last four hours there. Her response, much practiced I’m sure, was “it happens”. Still, we left the bookstore at 10:15 pm a happy crew. The best part of this is that I got 2 new books and a magazine and only spent 45 cents (how flipping cool is that?).
A Creative Journey
I call myself the perpetual student because I am always on a constant quest to learn anything and everything. I gladly take in all I can to help myself succeed in life and in business and would take a course on a subject in an instant if time were on my side most times. So instead I devour books.
My new book that I’m recommending to all is….”The Creative Entreprenuer” by Lisa Senora Beam. Lisa takes you on a visual journey rather than just a read-what-I-wrote-here-and-follow-it journey.
The publisher says “…the book offers a dynamic left brain/right brain approach to developing a business focus. [Lisa] helps the artistic types develop and harness their business savvy and takes readers on an inner journey of creative exploration”.
At first Lisa has you answer a list of questions that explore different pathways about you personally and you the artist as a businesswoman. Catch is (which I think is so cool) you have to turn your left brain off when answering these questions and just write….write without thinking…..without worrying about punctuation and grammar. I think they call it stream writing or some such thing.
As I get more and more into mixed media and paper arts, combining it with my love and use of fabric, I am encouraged by Lisa’s informal but strategic approach. I have read a few places where you are told to visually map out with magazine pics and such the life you want.
That is what this book helps you do…visually mind map what you wish for yourself. And, as this is a year of INTENTION and SELF DISCIPLINE for me, this guidebook fits in well with how I like to approach things, without having to re-read my goals and aspirations for the coming year. They’ll all be in pictures on my wall just above my desk. Nice!
Mind you I have not even begun to get into the book (only perused it in the part of the four hours at the bookstore), but from what Ive read so far…it’s gonna be a good ride. Go check it out for yourself.
See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,
