The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor (Paperback)

by Gail McMeekin (Author) "Your creative self is alive and waiting for your invitation to evolve!..." (more)
Key Phrases: inner patriarch, many creative women, creative woman, Mastering Your Challenges, Engaging Your Creativity, Serenity Stealers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Earnestly recounting how 45 successful women achieved their dreams, McMeekin aims to provide "mentors" who can help readers transcend creative blocks as they follow her program for personal transformation. Drawing heavily on the work of Shakti Gawain, the originator of "creative visualization," and Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance, McMeekin's approach rests on three "gateways": honoring one's creativity, assembling inner and outer resources, and maintaining "abundance" through "positive priorities." Within each area, McMeekin offers familiar "secrets" for tapping inner resources to reach one's goals, such as through building a team of empowering allies or facing down one's fear of criticism. Numerous case studies of remarkable women--ranging from Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Est?s and entrepreneur Joline Godfrey to children's book illustrator Jan Brett and restaurateur Lydia Shire, as well as McMeekin herself, who triumphed over chronic fatigue syndrome--illustrate each point. Unfortunately, the biographical profiles rarely convey the emotional highs and lows of each woman's transformative journey. In addition, readers who must contend with physical or financial barriers to success may also feel distanced from the women in the book, whose obstacles are addressed primarily in psychological terms. Still, McMeekin's practical guide will help highly motivated readers reflect on their past failures and successes in order to design their own road map for an inspired life. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Sparked by her long search for inspiration in her life and work, Gail McMeekin has worked closely with some of today's most highly creative women for her one-of-a-kind guide to maximizing creative energy. "For many women," she writes, "breaking free of our societal and psychological chains is a prerequisite to truly creating a life that expresses our genuineness and uniqueness."

The dynamic women sharing their secrets for the first time include Sarah Ban Breathnach, who channeled her creativity into the book she was "born to write" (the best-selling Simple Abundance); interior designer Chris Madden; and software tycoon Brenda Laurel. From interviews and conversations, McMeekin distilled the common themes in these innovators' lives and work into practices any woman can use.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573241415
• ISBN-13: 978-1573241410
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Not "Secrets", Certainly Valuable Guidelines, March 2, 2001

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is another of several excellent books in which an author has assembled what she or he has learned from a number of different in-depth interviews. In effect, the reader is given direct access to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of persons who may otherwise be inaccessible. McMeekin interviewed 45 "highly creative women" whose responses reveal 12 "secrets" which, in fact, are affirmations of basic values which most of us have been encouraged to embrace by caring parents and other relatives, teachers, coaches, clergy, etc. My own opinion is that these same values would also be affirmed by highly creative men.

McMeekin organizes her material within a series of three "Gateways" (ie rights of passage): Engaging Your Creativity, Mastering Your Challenges as a Creative Woman, and Actualizing Creative Results: The Power of Positive Priorities. She suggests that certain lessons can be learned from "a myriad of practices called Challenges." It takes courage (sometimes great courage) to confront such challenges. Hence the importance of the "lessons." McMeekin suggests that a "fabulous notebook, a gorgeous notebook" be purchased in which to record responses to all of the Challenges included in her book. She further suggests that the 12 Secrets be applied during each week or each month of the year.

Prior to reading a book, it is my standard procedure first to check out its title and subtitle, its Table of Contents, and then its Introduction or Preface. Frankly, I had some apprehensions after doing so with this book. How does McMeekin define "creative"? Written for and about women, will the book have any relevance to me and other males? Also frankly, by now I have become skeptical (if not cynical) about references to "secrets." Nonetheless, I began to read her "Note to the Reader" and then the 12 chapters which follow. Those interviewed provide a diverse and abundant range of personal experiences which both suggest and corroborate McMeekin's key points. Now having read the book, I can add affirmation of my own: This is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking books on human fulfillment which I have read in recent years. Who will derive the great benefit from it? My response is: Those (regardless of their gender and circumstance) who are accessible to what the 45 "highly creative women" were willing to share, those who possess the courage to take on the Challenges, and finally, those who are both willing and able to learn from the Secrets and then apply the Lessons.

Centuries ago, John Bunyan's Pilgrim embarked on a perilous journey. He was sustained by his faith and eventually prevailed. McMeekin seems to be suggesting that, in our own time, an equally perilous journey must be made. There are Gateways through which we must pass, meanwhile overcoming various Challenges. The 45 women whom McMeekin interviewed (most of them unfamiliar to me) were "highly creative" during their own personal and perilous journeys. They are modern-day Pilgrims who prevailed. McMeekin seems totally convinced that each of her readers can do so also if having the same faith and the same courage. I agree. If you share my high regard for this book, I urge you to check out Ellie Wymard's Conversations with Uncommon Women. Obvious to me, both she and McMeekin are uncommon human beings.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, February 6, 2000

By	Karen Speerstra (Randolph Center, Vermont United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been collecting and reading books on creativity since the 70's and this is one of the best published to date. Don't let the cover fool you. It's NOT just another collection of the famous and near famous talking about how creative they are. McMeekin has artfully woven a fine tapestry from her own material as well as threads provided by the 45 interviewees. Because of this author's skill, this is a fine example of the whole being much more than a collection of its parts. It's masterfully done and provides more than creative theory--it's real. And it's valuable on so many levels. The secret's out!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A SUCCULENT FEAST FOR CREATIVITY, July 15, 2000

By	Bonita L. Davis (Decatur, Georgia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

A fine meal requires the diner to slowy savor and digest the contents in order to appreciate the wonderful experience it brings. Such is the case with 12 Secrets. You must slowly digest, savor and absorb the fine insights it brings to nourish your dormant creativity.

Creativity is the vital lifeblood of women which too often is surpressed by our inner critics and outside influences. Regaining that vital force in our lives is the key to fully engage the unlimited possibilities set before us.

Enter Gail's three doorways which unfold the secrets we need to begin our creative venture. At the end of each chapter questions are presented to enable us to unfold the specifics of what holds our creativity back. Throughout the book interviews are shared about other successful women who had to go through a similar process to awaken their creative powers.

12 Secrets is a gentle mentor that raises women's consciousness and encourages them along the way. I couldn't put it down and neither will you when you have this resource in your hands.