This Time I Dance!: Trusting the Journey of Creating the Work You Love (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Okay, my newfound hopeful friend, we begin..." (more)
Key Phrases: Village Inn, Pledge Allegiance, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the days of layoffs, cutbacks and tough competition in the job market, Kieves reminds readers that life may be better outside the boardroom. When the Harvard-educated lawyer took a rare vacation from her job at a corporate law firm, she realized that she couldn't bear the thought of returning. Watching the sun set over crashing waves, she resolved to lead the life she'd always been longing to live-that of a writer, teacher and creativity coach. This book of short, lively essays that Kieves wrote over the course of her journey of discovery and self-fulfillment includes anecdotes of embarrassing run-ins with former coworkers; disappointment or disbelief from relatives and mere acquaintances alike; and the challenge of paying the bills on an artist's salary ("Could I rent an apartment and buy Starbucks coffee on divine benevolence?"). Kieves triumphs again and again by trusting herself and not giving up. Undaunted by her own experiences with self-doubt and rejection letters, Kieves encourages her readers to "live unreasonably" and "step into the river" of their dream lives. This is not the most elegantly written book-Kieves can be a little breathless, a little cutesy-but it's an inspirational and honest guide to crafting a more creative life.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

In this inspirational guide to work and life, a Harvard-educated lawyer who left her corporate job to write and follow her dreams poses this question to readers: If you're successful doing work you don't love, what could you do with work you do love?

If you've ever wanted your own personal mentor, champion of your gifts, advocate for your dreams, your support system has arrived. As an accomplished alternative career coach who has walked the walk, Tama J. Kieves now shares the wisdom she has taught for years in her popular workshops. While examining each fear you might encounter on your journey to self-fulfillment, the author transforms the ideal of doing work you love into actuality. Through personal stories of overcoming in-securities, Kieves recounts her experience of leaving behind life as a corporate lawyer to rediscover her buried creative self, focus on her writing ability, and develop a soul-inspired livelihood.

Filled with solutions to the anxieties and roadblocks you may confront on your path, This Time I Dance! is for everyone who is unfulfilled in their current position and uncertain of the practical steps that they should follow to achieve their dreams.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; 1 edition (May 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585422401
• ISBN-13: 978-1585422401
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #934,718 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good as inspiration... not a how-to manual, though, June 13, 2003

By	Karen Hodge "ndrew62" (Ohio United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tama J. Kieves has written a fun-to-read account of her move from high stress to high energy, from the corporate rat race to excelling as a member of the human race. Her writing style is witty and her journey interesting.

If you're looking for an inspiring tale of how one woman reinvented her life, this is the book for you. If you know where you are going and just need a motivational voice to whisper success coaching thoughts into your ear, this is the book for you. However, if you, like me, have no idea what you want to be when you grow up, this may not be enough for you.

For those not in a position to just drop out of the corporate world and pursue there passions or those who have no clue what their passions are, this book may not be enough to keep you going either.

All in all, Kieves has an excellent writing style, and her voice comes to you as if she is sitting across your kitchen table sharing with you a decadent dessert and cup of really rich coffee. If you embrace it as a means to provoke thought but not as a road map for your future, you'll enjoy the read.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal....., February 4, 2004

By	Julie Jordan Scott "Writer, Life Coach - Owne... (Bakersfield, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As I read this book I felt like I was along on Tama Kieve's journey. Her book is like a "permission slip" which allows the ability to get off the crowded, usual path and onto the extraordinary path... the different, less traveled way AND the way back to our true selves.

Especially heart warming is the truthfulness of the writing.

Just because Kieves is a "Harvard Lawyer" doesn't mean this whole process was a piece of cake... not at all! Her doubts, her fears, her wonderings, musings and continuings are similar to the ones I have felt as I have traveled my "unconventional path."

As you seek your perfectly unique, beautiful -- and perhaps unconventional path -- you will, like me, laugh in recognition and delight to hear of the first Creative Writing class where Tama writes in amazement, "She had plumbing and plumbing problems! Then she yawned, revealing silver fillings. As if all that weren't enough, I happened to notice that a part of her hem hung longer than the rest of her denim, made-in- America, made-on-my-planet, skirt." followed by her HUGE a-ha "This writing guru was an ordinary woman!"

This book is wise, hilarious, inspiring, thought evoking and much much more than can be put into words.

Kieves chooses her words with artful thought. She literally seems to have lodged herself in my thoughts regularly. I know it is a book I will return to repeatedly.

Read this one now. You won't be disappointed.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anyone wanting a change, July 16, 2003

By	M. E. Rode (Evergreen, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tama's book was a godsend for me. As one who was teetering on the brink of leaving my adequate but soul-draining "corporate job" for years, this book punched through my fears and my doubts and gave me the spark I needed to finally do something about it.

Coming from a person who had much more to lose than I did but "did it anyway", Tama's telling of her story was exactly what I needed to get through the chorus of NO that played in my head every day ("What will I do instead? Oh no, I'll starve! Everyone would want my job...what will people think? What do I really want?") and move on to the next level of honesty with myself: "Get real, or you're wasting your time here, girl."

Everyone should read this book. It's magnificent.