The Courage Tree

 

Well I’ve started a new reading routine, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I’m setting a timer on my phone, and reading for thirty minutes every day. I’ve found that I can easily finish an average-sized fiction book in the two week period I have it checked out from the library. 

Last week I finished up Diane Chamberlain’s, The Courage Tree. This is the third book of hers that I have read, and I’ve enjoyed all three. The other two were Big Lies in a Small Town and The Last House on the Street in case you are interested. 

The Courage Tree is a story of a young girl suffering from late stage kidney disease. Her mother has enrolled her in an unproven clinical trial using natural herbs. Although, her daughter seems to be making progress no other family members are in agreement with the treatment. 

The story begins when Sophie, the young girl, does not return from a weekend Girl Scout outing. It’s a race against the clock to locate Sophie before she needs her next treatment and dialysis. Of course, know one even knows if she is actually alive. 

Another twist between another mother and daughter is also intertwined into the story, along with a budding romance. One of the things I really like about Chamberlain’s writing style is the ease in which she tells a story. You are not bogged down by things that don’t really matter. I call that filler, and it never holds my attention for long. She definitely writes a story you want to return to. 

I highly recommend The Courage Tree for an enjoyable read. 

Books, Books, Books

 If you are a bibliophile like me, a person who collects or has a great love of books, then you know that you can never have too many books. 

However, if you are a penny pincher like me you might look for more affordable options to obtaining books. 

I’ve created a list of possible places to find books:

Library

Library book sales, and free book give aways

Thrift and antique stores

Book swaps

Little Free Libraries- often found in community neighborhoods or parks

Friends- other book lovers

Ollie’s-Stephenville 

5 Below

Walmart

Target

Barnes and Noble

Half Price Books

Independent Bookstores (I’ve reviewed several of these in prior posts)

Walmart Preowned Books-online

Online Discover Books

No excuse bibliophiles fir not adding to your collection. You know what they say- so many books, so few shelves!

The Creativity Cure

 

“I am creative. I am an artist. I am creating my life.”  Jacob Nordby

You may not know this about me, but I’m basically obsessed with any kind of book about creativity. My bookshelves are overflowing with this genre, and I am always on the hunt for another creativity tome. 

Recently I read, The Creativity Cure by Jacob Norby. His premise is that as we grew up we left behind that innate creativity that was part of our childhood. We “traded” it as he says for predictability and responsibility. 

He places a lot of the blame on our educational system which initially was  formed to create good little factory workers. The need for factory workers today may not be as great, but our allegiance to standardized testing pretty much ends with the same result. 

Perhaps it was some adult in your past that pointed out your failings in things like music, art or dance? For me it was the B in art class in Jr. High which kept me off the A honor roll. Sadly, I never took another art class in my public school career again. 

It wasn’t until I reached college when I was required to take art for my elementary education degree, that I remembered how much I loved it. Between Art Appreciation, Design, an art methods class, and then a class that included cartooning I was in my element. 

Being an elementary school teacher always gave me the opportunity to be creative, and to encourage my students to do the same. I really miss having that impact on those budding young creatives. 

Norby states that the three enemies of creativity are “socialization, traumatic experience, and rejection.” Definitely for me the fear of criticism, aka rejection, often held me back from really stretching my creativity wings. What if my art work, singing voice, or writing were not up to par? What would others think?

Luckily, according to Norby this innate creativity is never really lost. It’s just buried below years of denial. He even states that creativity is actually your birthright.

He emphasizes joy as the route to recapture this long forgotten birthright. “Joy and creativity go together. Joy is your guide and creativity is the method by which you travel.”

Norby encourages pursuing joy to help determine what really matters to you. Just like that well known geometrical principle of the shortest distance between two lines, joy takes you from where you are to where you want to go.

The Creativity Cure includes several exercise to spark creativity. From setting limits to welcoming randomness each idea allows your imagination to roam free. 

He includes Julia Cameron’s Artist Dates (I have included a whole list of ideas in the prior blog post.), not allowing should and shouldn’ts to get in the way, and encourages you to become the ‘author of your own life.” 

Norby’s cure is full of all kinds of creative activities that will allow you to unearth your true creative self. 

“Joy arises from the expression of our true nature.” Jacob Norby