Hello lovely bloggy-people!
I have been reflecting on the positive influences that certain people have had on my thought processes. I discovered my first Barbara Sher book at the local library, but have found out more and bought books via the internet. Dave Rendall I found on the internet. Both have helped to shape a healthier and less conventional way of thinking about talents, weaknesses and working life. Ruth Tuck I knew before there was internet for the public!
Barbara Sher. She writes insightful books. She defines and loves “Scanners” and assists them to manage their strangeness/abilities. Of her many books, the ones I have read are all favourites:
“Refuse to Choose: Use all of your interests, passions and hobbies to create the life and career of your dreams”,
“It’s only too late if you don’t start now: How to create your second life at any age”,
“Idea Book” and
“Wishcraft”.
After excitedly reading “Refuse to Choose” (the first I read) I felt great relief that I had an alternative to aspiring to a 9-to-5 type work situation.
Dave Rendall at Freak Factor. Hi Dave! He suggests maybe your “worst” traits are also your greatest assets. He wrote the Freak Factor Manifesto which I have mentioned before, and has a Freak Factor blog and a business leadership blog. Dave has inspired confidence and changed my thinking about how a working life might utilise the positive aspects of a person. (And save time/stress not trying to fix the downside).
Ruth Tuck: A mentor and teacher since I was 7 years old. Gave me confidence to do Art of all kinds. I am trying to find you a good link with her artwork, but she isn’t very comprehensively represented on the web. At least, here’s a link to a page of 2004 artwork, but it doesn’t really explain how she affected my skills and thinking in art as I grew up.
It seems like experience is the thing that helps to understand your own unique combination of capabilities, wishes and preferences, and gradually to learn to accept and work with them.
By the way, I’m just looking into “e-junkie”, a method of intergrating sales into a web-site or blog etc. Have any of you fabulous readers used it? I thought it might be a good way to go for a self-hosted artwork shop. Also I am toying with the idea of writing an e-book. Will keep you posted on that.
Take care,
Meg