I'm reading another book, "The Sound of Paper" by Julia Cameron, who is best known for the bible on creativity, "The Artist's Way."
"The Sound of Paper" is about nourishing our creative muse, especially when we have gone on vacation, left it at home, and forgotten to put out so much as a morning snack.
One of the exercises from the book I tried today is about adventuring. Actually, everytime I read a book, I go on an adventure. But that's another post I've been wanting to write about the great gift of local libraries.
So here's the exercise exactly as Julia has described in the book:
"Take pen in hand. Number from 1 to 10. Finish the following phrase as rapidly as possible:
- A great adventure I'd love to have is _______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
- A great adventure I'd love to have is_______________________________
Scan your list. Select the adventure that sounds the most delectable to you. Devise one small step you can take toward having that adventure. Take that step."
So here's what I furiously wrote before running out of steam:
A great adventure I'd love to have is traveling the world for several months, on my own or with my husband.
A great adventure I'd love to have is shadowing an interesting person in their work--someone who is fully cooked.
A great adventure I'd love to have is to immerse myself in a new world, a new discipline, with all the tools of the trade.
A great adventure I'd love to have is to take a painting class or a storytelling seminar or some other experiential workshop.
A great adventure I'd love to have is to be a child for an entire week. Eating what they eat, going to their classroom, playing what they play, sleeping when they sleep.
Adventures for me are about new perspectives and experiences, with no set notions on where those might come from. In which case, adventures can come from any place at any time.
You know, I have that book sitting on my shelf and I just haven't picked it up.
She has another fantastic book called Religion Is No Laughing Matter that is
fantastic. Thanks for motivating me to get back to the wonderful books I have on
my bookshelf.
I'm going to have to add your blog to my site. Very thoughtful content. I look
forward to reading more.
Posted by: Kayll | December 22, 2005 at 02:48 PM
Great to hear that the posting triggered you to re-discover this book. I'll
check out the book that you recommend, sometime in 2006. (There are way too many
books on my list and never enough time to read!)
Posted by: Carol Ross | December 22, 2005 at 05:09 PM