6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, unexpected inspiration, February 18, 2009
This review is from: Audacious Creativity: 30 Ways to Liberate Your Soulful Creative Energy--and How It Can Transform Your Life (Paperback)
I recently procured a copy of "Audacious Creativity" from a friend and found myself idly perusing through the different contributor stories on my subway ride home from my grad school class. To be honest, I expected to find the anthology, a basic, albeit extremely well-written, collection in which the contributors discussed how they inspired others and their methods for connecting with my personal creative processes. You know, the same old, same old "I can do this, so YOU can do this" rah-rah designed to make me believe that I can do/be anything before I once again realize my own creative limits.
Instead, I found myself transported by the essays and actually inspired to practice what the contributors suggested. Instead of feeling force-fed wisdom and sickened by the realization that I could never possibly be as perfect as the people whose stories I was reading, I felt like I engaging in a conversation with a really good friend.
One of the most profound ways I was affected by the book took place as the result of my attempt to go an entire day without talking about people behind their backs, as suggested by Reverend Allan Lokos in his essay, "The Spiritual Practice of Creativity." It astounded me that I could only last two hours before succumbing to a need to gossip. I've always considered myself to be fairly free of the need to put other people down to feel better about myself--but quickly realized in doing this exercise how much negativity comes out of me every day. It forced me to take a long, extremely hard look in the mirror and actively change the way I approach the people in my life. I will fully admit that i feel that I am a much healthier person emotionally because of what he and other contributors had to teach me.
As a young professional in New York City, I often find myself rushing from one task to the next--I'm so rushed and focused on the needs of others, that when it comes time for me to tap into my own creativity, I feel confused and uncertain of my own creative potential. It can sometimes take me several hours before I'm able to get myself in the proper mind frame to fling open my figurative creative gates and be comfortable letting what's inside of me flow out into physical reality. It's not easy to find comfort in just being you--letting all of the expectations and needs of others fade into the background--but the contributors in this anthology help you to realize how absolutely necessary indulging in your creativity is to your emotional health.
I consider myself lucky to have received a copy of this book. It's going on my bookshelf right next to my copies of Madeleine L'Engle's books--the books that fostered my creativity as a child--as a reminder to re-read several of the essays whenever I doubt my capability to be an audacious creator in my own right.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Partly Audacious with a Chance of Creativity, November 7, 2009
This review is from: Audacious Creativity: 30 Ways to Liberate Your Soulful Creative Energy--and How It Can Transform Your Life (Paperback)
Stephanie Gunning's Audacious Creativity feels like the kind of book that you might give to some one who is going through a transition, looking for inspiration to take the next step in a healthier direction. Consider this a chicken soup for the creative soul type of book. Thirty authors from a variety of backgrounds each contributed one essay to this collection. Their stories reveal perceptions of creativity that are steeped in New Age philosophy and sprinkled with doses of pragmatic advice.
Many of the contributors to this book appear to be influenced by Eastern approaches to the field of creativity and employ those ideas in their own observations. Making time to intentionally listen to our intuition and connect with the creative inside of us appears to be the thread that delicately strings these 30 pieces together. It is also a technique used in both Taoist and Zen Buddhist meditation. In fact, it was during a meditation session that Gunning was inspired to compile this creation!
Gunning explains that the title of the book was prompted by her recognition that it takes courage to be a bold and lively creator. Out of the 30 entries offered in Audacious Creativity, I found about half of them to contain helpful insights for me personally. I believe that another reader might glean something useful from different sections than I did, based on personal preferences. For example, when I substituted the word health for wealth in Richard Aronow's piece, his creation challenge to be and grow rich became meaningful to me. Below are some of the nuggets of wisdom that I found particularly insightful with regard to creativity.
Several models developed by contributors closely parallel the stages of Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process:
* Katherine Scott's position that all living beings have a creative voice that is uniquely their own has led her to outline the steps of the creative dance.
* C. Russell Brumfield throws a little quantum physics into the mix and shares his take on the conditions necessary for true creative potential to be reached: concept, definition, inspiration, desire, and expectation.
* Sandy Grason draws an analogy for giving birth to creative ideas from intention to action.
* John Darrouzet offers 12 milestones for creative decision-making, which is an interesting interpretation of a hero's journey, although I disagree with his assertion that not all leaders are creative.
Some contributors present specific applications that can be carried out by the reader seeking audacious creativity.
* Laura Duksta offers two exercises for creating a new, inspiring world for yourself by making up a story that serves you, as opposed to clinging to one that stops you, and by clearing the negative energy from a situation that is bringing you down. That second exercise helps you see how a person or experience that has caused you pain can actually help you learn and grow.
* Paige Stapleton's life mapping exercise offers a guide to help you begin creating your vision.
Many of the writers for this book offer inspiring reflections on creative thinking.
* Paulette Callen's observation that doing something to your fullest capability (whatever that creative work looks like for you) takes preparation and gives meaning to your life in ways that few other things do.
* Susanna Weiss reminds you that your own certainty can be one of the biggest blocks to our creativity, because people can always discover something new.
* Kathi and Jay Handt remark that taking care your body is a foundation to helping you create a life that is worth living to the fullest.
* Beatrice Kraemer's good advice for creatives provides an eloquent ending to the book: "The more I practice being curious, the bigger my curiosity gets."
This is a book based on personal experiences shared as anecdotes - it is not founded on research or contemporary theories in creative studies. Several of the contributors' philosophies do parallel some of the research in the field of creativity, but readers who are seeking scientific evidence of audacious creativity will be disappointed. A brief biography of each contributor is provided at the end of the book to share their credentials and to lead the reader to websites or other books penned by the authors. For me, this did not enhance the credibility of the book, but helped me to appreciate the perspective the writers were coming from. This book is certainly worth at least a skim, and I will keep it on my shelf to refer to on those days when I need to feel emboldened!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creation from the heart, December 22, 2008
This review is from: Audacious Creativity: 30 Ways to Liberate Your Soulful Creative Energy--and How It Can Transform Your Life (Paperback)
Last year I was invited by Stephanie Gunning to contribute a chapter to Audacious Creativity.
I was so happy to run to her place to pick up the finished product and read it.
It underscores the truth of how healing and joy can be realized and shared when true commitment, hard work and the positive spirit come into alignment.
I look so forward to our book signing event this January, when all the contributors and their guests are invited
to read their chapters and share their life's work with our community and our world.
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