Andrea Maurer says:
The highest compliment I can give regarding something I’ve read is to say, I wish I’d...
Amada Gegenheimer says:
Thanks for the thoughts you discuss through your blog. In addition, several young women...
basilis says:
As a kindergarten-teacher I don’t have to add anything.
Mauricio says:
Thank you Shawn! Your insights are extremely valuable.
Mark says:
Shawn, A phenomenal post. There is absolutely true joy and contentment in knowing that you’ve done...
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The issue that comes up more than any other among aspiring artists and entrepreneurs is this: “How can we chase our dream when we’ve got kids, a job, demands and deadlines? How do we find the time, the self-discipline and the energy when we’re dealing with all this real stuff in the real world?”
The Muse can be a tough taskmistress. But she does have one soft spot, if we know where to look. (more…)
Have you seen Elizabeth Gilbert at TED? The video has become a bit of a sensation on the web and if you watch it, you’ll see why. Ms. Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design; it’s a nonprofit organization that brings together speakers from the arts and sciences and politics several times a year. Ms. Gilbert’s talk was a hit at the most recent get-together.
She was talking about the enormous and unexpected (to her) success of Eat, Pray, Love and how she was struggling with the pressure to follow the book up with something as good or better. What helped her, she said, was to jettison the contemporary concept that the artist is the genius who produces the work and go back to the ancient Roman idea that the artist has the genius (a Latin word). This entity is not ourselves, but something that lives within us–a muse or guardian creative spirit. Thus, Elizabeth Gilbert says, it’s not we fallible mortals who are doing the work, but some mysterious force within and beyond us. And that takes all the pressure off. (more…)
How do you find your writer’s voice? A lot of humbug has been written on this subject. The myth is that in finding that voice, the writer achieves a kind of personal enlightenment. She discovers “who she really is.”
Not in my experience. (more…)
