Books to inspire: Curious
A while ago, while I was reading another book (Flourish by Martin Seligman), I took one of those online psychology tests. This one was called the Values in Action Signature Strengths test and its aim is to help you identify the things that motivate you, your passions and core values. The theory, in Positive Psychology, is that by finding ways to use your signature strengths regularly, and expanding your opportunities to use them, you will be more fulfilled in what you are doing (in work or life). It makes sense to me. If I’m not doing stuff that ticks some kind of internal boxes or allows me to use my unique skills then no wonder things don’t feel right. So, after answering about 50 questions, my top 5 signature strengths emerged as:
1. Love of learning
2. Appreciation of beauty and excellence
3. Curiosity/Interest in the world
4. Capacity to love and be loved
5. Leadership
Nothing earth-shatteringly surprising there. But seeing some of these aspects of myself, which I probably wouldn’t have put right at the top, has helped me to realise what it is that I do well and how I want to work in the future. My top 5 has become a bit of a guiding light while I plan and reflect.
So, I know you’ll understand why I recommend this book to you this month – Curious by Ian Leslie.
Books to inspire: Why we make things and why it matters
With January being such a good time to take stock and reflect I thought my book recommendation this month should be a book that allows you to consider your creative practice through the eyes of another.
Peter Korn’s Why we make things & why it matters is a beautiful book. Part autobiography, part philosophy for living (and making) it is deeply personal and yet completely relevant to all people who aim to make a living from the work they do with their hands.
Books to inspire: The Art of Possibility
I love this book. It is one of the few books I know I would be very upset if I lost. It regularly makes the journey down from my bookshelf onto my desk or bedside table and I never tire of rereading passages. In some ways I feel the book houses the kind of optimism that I wish I had in greater measure. Not a Pollyanna, life is great (even when it’s not) kind of outlook, but a sense that we can affect so much in our lives if we just realised it. That the world is a place full of opportunity and possibility and we are active participants within that. It’s something I know to be true, but sometimes find hard to remember.
The authors of this book – Rosamund and Benjamin Zander – are a couple who work in very different fields. She is a family therapist and a painter, he is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a teacher of music students. Together they bring insights from their spheres of activity; their stories and examples are inspiring and motivating.
Books to inspire: Not Knowing
This book is explicitly aimed at ‘the world of work’ and has positive recommendations from the movers and shakers of business, economics and leadership areas. Do no let that put you off! Although many of the case studies are taken from people working at often quite high-level positions in management, the main concepts in the book translate into all areas. Fundamentally this book hopes to prod people out of their safety zones, helping them to re-frame the concept of uncertainty and to embrace ‘Not Knowing’ as a positive force for opportunity.
Books to inspire: get on top of your creative routine
So, it’s October already. Not sure how that happened, or if I’m ready for it, but I am trying to be more accepting of time passing so let’s say it’s fine. Something I have noticed about the way I work is that I often don’t get the hang of a season until it’s completely over. Which is, of course, too late. I get into a routine that works and then I have to figure out a new way of managing my time. I’m not sure that I really noticed this so much when I worked full-time in a ‘regular’ job, where the rhythm of your days is often out of your control, but now that I’m freelance/self-employed, I am very aware of how important a routine is. It is something I struggle with constantly and am always looking out for new ideas or tips.
Wrap up your creative return – the big picture
I started this month with a reflection on the French tradition of la rentrée – the return to normal after the summer holidays. It seemed to me that we could all do with a chance to celebrate this return, and why not apply it to our creative lives as well as our return to school or work? So, each week in September I have recommended books that might help you to put your creative life into perspective, giving you the focus you need for the last few (often incredibly busy) months of the year. This week we are shifting slightly – the book I’m recommending has a broader approach, it isn’t written explicitly about creativity, but its focus on introducing small moments of happiness into your everyday routine will no doubt have an impact on your creative practice.
Start your Creative Return – how to survive as an artist
After last week’s post contemplating the idea of la rentrée créative (a creative return to normal after the summer break) I thought I’d continue with the theme of reflection and review ready for the end of the year ahead.
I have a few book recommendations which I’ve been meaning to share and they offer opportunities for thinking holistically about your creative practice, your creative business and your work/life balance. First up:
Books to inspire: The Man who Made Things out of Trees
I picked up the book and knew immediately that a friend would like it. That an exploration of the possibilities from one tree would appeal to her. I knew that it would hold descriptions of the connection between material and process, material and object, material and craftsperson, that would make sense to her maker’s sensibility. I was excited to read it, so that I could send it on, with glowing praises and hopes that she hadn’t yet discovered it. I read the back cover, and smiled to see how Grant Gibson was ‘smitten’ by it. The promise of becoming completely absorbed in the prose. Of falling in love with a tree and the objects that it would produce.
Books to inspire: The Creative Habit
I first read this book a few years ago while I was in second year of my BA. At the time I was still uncertain of the path ahead and this book, which focuses on how to set up useful strategies for maintaining your creative drive, helped me to see that creativity is not an elusive bolt of lightning, but something that must be worked at, a skill that if you don’t practise, it will be lost. Here I am three years down the line, grappling with issues in my making practice, and her words are relevant again.
Books to inspire: Meditations
This book, written over a thousand years ago, by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is a wonderful touchstone for when things get a bit too much. It is a proto self-help book, but unlike modern self-help which is written for an audience, and aims to be instructive, this text was written by Marcus Aurelius privately, for no-one else’s eyes. These are his notes to himself, reminders of how to keep going, reminders of things he’s learnt along the way.