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| photo by Scott Elliot |
In his New York Times Bestseller "Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative," Austin Kleonshares dozens of inspiring quotes and stories that he stole fromothers. Well, I don't know that I'd call it stealing (though I thinkAustin would happily call it that!) but he definitely borrowed,compiled, illustrated and shared them in a fresh, inspiring way. I foundmyself highlighting almost every single page...jotting notes...andhaving semi-brilliant ideas, one of which was to finally create theCreative Oasis Book Club™.
I have shelves filled with lots andlots of fabulous books about creativity. I'll read a review in a magazine,stumble across a book on amazon.com or find an appealing title in a reallive honest-to-goodness bookstore (thank goodness these still exist!)and think to myself, "I MUST OWN THIS! This will inspire and enlightenme. This will surely share the keys to the creative kingdom. This maychange my life!"
Then I buy it. Then I put it on my shelf. Then Ilook at its spine each day longingly and think to myself, "I reallyshould read that book someday soon." Or I'll actually start to read itand then something shiny gets my attention and I'm off in anotherdirection. Then I read review of another great title and think tomyself, "I MUST OWN THIS!" And the cycle repeats itself.
Thus, Ifind myself in the position of owning dozens and dozens of wonderful books on thesubject of creativity of which I've only read bits and pieces. On the other hand, I also own dozens of creative books that I've visited so many times the pages are dog-earred and filled with highlights and notes and feel more like an old friend than a book.
So I thought, what better wayto dive in, explore, revisit and share these books than to create a book club? Joining and creating groups as well as taking classes are wonderful ways to create the time and space for creativity in our lives. Thus – the
Creative Oasis Book Club™ was born.
For our first book, we'll read
"Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon and meet for two 1-hour teleclasses. The wonderful thing aboutoffering the Creative Oasis Book Club™ as a teleclass is I'll recordour sessions, so if you're unable to make a call live that's okay. Youcan simply listen to the recording at your leisure. You'll be kept inthe loop with any follow-ups and creative prompts the class receives bye-mail. To join us, register by sending me an email at
creativeoasiscoach@me.com.
Creative Oasis Book Club™
"Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon
Two teleclass series will meet Friday April 12 & 19 from 11am to noon (central)
FREE ($50 value)
(To celebrate the first ever Creative Oasis Book Club, I'm offering this two-class series free of charge. Future teleclasses will be priced based on the length of the book and the number of classes.)
In May, we'll read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. You can read more about that Creative Oasis Book Club™ selection by
clicking here.
Until next time, all the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,
Jill
