Category Archives: Non-fic

Sun-Tzu for the Soul

Posted on by
6

I recently read a blog post titled, Ten Ways Being a Theatre Major Prepared Me for Success.

I discovered this list of ten via a friend of mine who posted a link to the entry on her Facebook page. Drama buds in high school, and theatre scholarship recipients in college, our lives eventually diverged down different roads. My friend is now an Assistant Professor of Theatre at a Liberal Arts college, and I am now a writer. So what I really love about the blog post is that it points out how following your passions in college prepares you to thrive, no matter where your path leads.

Before I veer us toward what makes this a bookish post, I suggest you check out the aforementioned entry penned by a guy named Tom Vander Well. (It’s nice to meet you, Tom!) It’s helpful for students trying to choose a major, and an encouraging read for graduates—and students of life—needing a positive nudge to evaluate the value of individual experience.

If you haven’t already guessed, Tom’s entry got me thinking about which books have prepared me for success. I’ve read several great titles, but there is one very special book that tops the list as a must read.

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

From the publisher:

A succinct, engaging, and practical guide for succeeding in any creative sphere, The War of Art is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul. What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid the roadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting up a dream business venture, writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece? Bestselling novelist Steven Pressfield identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success. The War of Art emphasizes the resolve needed to recognize and overcome the obstacles of ambition and then effectively shows how to reach the highest level of creative discipline. Think of it as tough love . . . for yourself. Whether an artist, writer or business person, this simple, personal, and no-nonsense book will inspire you to seize the potential of your life.

Which books have inspired you to reach your full potential?

“Welcome to My World”: the secret lives of moms

Posted on by
1

I’ve been having one of those weeks months years, it seems. Every time I think I’m gaining some ground I turn around and there’s another matter needing my attention. The sandcastles of my work, family and personal life are collapsing and it’s all I can do to shore up the facade before it all washes away. And it is a facade, isn’t it? This dream of having it all, of being the mom-most-awesome, who can bring home the bacon, fry it up for dinner, serve it to the family while looking good and with a smile on her face. I call foul; nothing is that easy.

The so-called “mommy wars” have always intrigued me. Who does it better? Stay at home moms or working moms? Or work at home moms? Or stay at home dads, for that matter? It seems like all sides will tell you that they have it better (or worse, as the case may be) than the other side, but the war wages on.

So, how can we come to an armistice?

By finding common ground. By giving a little concession and being honest about what it is that we love (and hate) about the choices that we make. And then not judging one another when we share our brutal honesty.

Welcome to My World is an eBook compilation of essays by 13 popular bloggers, edited by Sarah Bryden-Brown. And these bloggers share it all: the good, the bad and the uncomfortable. And what I love most about their stories is how they wouldn’t change a thing; the paths of motherhood they’ve chosen have been  hard and sometimes it makes them cry or miss their pre-kid lives, but only for a hot second. They may complain about their responsibilities but they also express reverent thankfulness for their blessings.

These essays are like a soft place to fall for someone like me–a mom who sometimes has a love/hate relationship with the complications and joys of her life.

Welcome to My World is available in the Amazon Kindle store for $6.99.

Please Read (if at all possible): The Girl Project

Posted on by
3

Like StacyJ, I’m a new kindle convert. And having just spent a weekend out of town, I had a much-lighter carry-on bag to remind me why I’m a devotee. No longer one of the poor hunchbacked souls who hauled a small library around on her travels to ensure she never was stranded without a “right-feeling” book to match whatever mood came over her, with my kindle I could have my library and my good posture, too!

But when I came home, I fell into a book that makes it clear why the kindle shouldn’t put her older sister out to pasture altogether. Please Read (if at all possible) couldn’t exist in any other form. Photographer Kate Englelbrecht began The Girl Project in 2007 to discover if the vampy, hyper-sexualized girls she saw on TV meant their real-life counterparts were as far removed from her own experience as she feared. She sent disposable cameras and questionnaires to teenage girls throughout the country and found more than 5,000 of them eager to express their own visions of themselves and the world around them. The title is taken from the front of one of the participant’s returned cameras. Offered as an apology for the camera’s late arrival, the (polite) command followed by the self-effacing dodge captures the push-me/pull-me, in-between-ed-ness of adolescence perfectly.

For many of the girls, this was the first time they had taken a picture on film. They could only capture what they saw in front of them–not what they could check on a digital display and retake or delete. I was struck by the difference between what the girls submitted and what I expected to see. There are artful shots, shots that prove girls today are as proud of their messy bedrooms as they were in my day, and shots of body parts that break your heart. (“Never good enough” in marker on a leg. “I love my body” on a belly my inner teen couldn’t help hoping was just a little more curvy.) Sometimes I wished that things had changed more …

The images are striking, but maybe because I’m a word person, I found the text just as interesting. Answers to the questionnaires are reproduced in the girls’ own handwriting, and seeing how they write is as telling as what they write. The microscopic scrawl. The bubble letters and smilie faces. The thoughts and second thoughts and afterthoughts. Englebrecht sent the girls the Proust Questionnaire, a series of questions thought to reveal the subject’s true personality. Some appear in their entirety. Many are gathered together as a collective answer to the question posed. Graphically, the arrangment is powerful. I can only imagine what it might feel like for a girl to see just how many people answered the question, “What are you afraid of?” with “being alone.” I know I hope it makes them feel less so.

 

Women Who Rock

Posted on by
3

Sometimes? I really really love my job.

Recently, because of my job, I was invited to Cleveland, Ohio on a tour to see all the fun and amazing things there are to do in Cleveland (of which there are so very many; so many. Cleveland is awesome). One of the stops on this trip was the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, to visit the amazing Women Who Rock exhibit, and where I picked up the official exhibit guidebook.

This exhibit is an embarrassment of riches about amazing women in Rock & Roll history. The Women Who Rock exhibit will take you on a journey through music and musicians from the bluesy torch singers of the 1920s, rockabilly and R&B singers of the 1950s & 1960s, girl groups, country singers and disco divas, all the way to the Riot Grrrl movement and Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress (Yes, it’s really on display. And oh yes, it’s as icky as you think it might be.). Can’t make it to the museum? This book is your guide to all that you would see and hear at the “Rock Hall” as it’s called locally.

There is an amazing collection of memorabilia that you can peek at in this book (or at the Hall itself); Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” outfit! Wanda Jackson’s guitar! Joan Jett’s handwritten lyrics to “Cherry Bomb!” And so much more.

Visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s website to find your copy. If you find yourself in Cleveland before February 2012, you can pick up a copy after you tour the exhibit.

A favorite author: Anne Lamott

Posted on by
8

I waddled down to the beach. I was not wearing a cover-up, not even a T-shirt. I had decided I was going to take my thighs and butt with me proudly wherever I went. I decided to treat them as if they were beloved elderly aunties, who did embarrassing things like roll their stockings into tubes around their ankles at the beach, but who I was proud of because they were so great in every important way… I could feel the aunties beaming. They had been in the dark too long. It did not trouble me that parts of my body–the auntie parts–kept moving even after I had come to a full halt. Who cares? People just need to be soft and clean.

Anne Lamott

This idea of the beaming “aunties” came to mind on my recent vacation, spent with my family at a cabin on a lake with dear friends. A cocoon of friendship and love… leisure and camaraderie… punctuated by the laughter of splashing kids, this vacation allowed us all to unabashedly be ourselves, free of self-consciousness. So I walked to the beach thinking of Anne Lamott and her “aunties.”

I don’t remember when I first heard of Anne Lamott, but I do remember that when I first read one of her books, I felt as though she pulled a cord on a particular lightbulb in my head for the first time. That lightbulb meant things like this: it is possible to stand in awe of a well-observed moment. It is possible to acknowledge one’s own neurosis and show compassion for that which mars the perfection of others. It is possible to show compassion to yourself. It is possible to find delight in thoughts that come from a yet-untraveled path on the ideological spectrum. It is possible to hold faith and irreverence together in one hand.

It was a growing-up point for me, possibly, this reading of an Anne Lamott book.

Lamott is a writer of novels and essays. She writes of real life, family, transformation, faith, and humanness with an air of sharp honesty and humor that absolutely captivates. I am a fan of her essay-memoir-non-fiction books (this is a category, yes?), which drift effortlessly between the mundane and profound, much like everyday life, but with greater depth and greater freedom than most of us allow ourselves to have. She writes from a perspective of Christian faith, but not the flavor of faith one might expect. There are more questions than answers, and faith is simply faith. It is not a brand.

Lamott has lived most of her life in the San Francisco area, thus the ocean and the beach are characters present in all her books. This backdrop, and the essay format, make her writing perfect for the hit-and-miss summer reader who might enjoy being inspired to laugh, cry, wonder, and delight in the beauty and truth found in all parts of life. Even… the “aunties.”

My recommendations:
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life  (specifically about the art and act of writing)