Spark- A Book Review

I must admit I thought that this book was going to be about how to become more creative. Instead it is based off the radio show 360 and it talks about how famous people get their creative juice flowing.
Even though it was not exactly about what I thought I still found it an enjoyable read. I was surprised at what some of the artist went through to get creative. It seems it comes from living outside of the norm. When you experience life altering events then it stirs up the creative juices.
Reading this allowed me to get a glimpse into what creativity is in the real sense and how people use what could have been a bad experience into a creative outlet. This book would be recommended to people who want to know more about the creative process.

Bloggiesta

I will be partispating in bloggiesta on March 30 31 and April 1. It is weekend where you work on spiffing up your blog. I cant wait!! Go here for more info and to sign up. I hope to see everyone there!

A Book Review: Who Am I? If so, How Many?

 Good Reads summary:What is truth? What is love? Does life have meaning? Bestselling author Richard David Precht, “the Mick Jagger of the nonfiction book” (Tagesanzeiger Zürich), has traveled the globe searching for answers—and his odyssey has become one of the most talked-about books around the world. Combining classic philosophy and cutting-edge neuroscience, Precht guides readers through the thickest jungles of academic discourse with the greatest of ease, taking on subjects as challenging and divisive as abortion, cloning, the eating of animals, euthanasia, the ethics of reproductive science, and the very future of humanity.
My Thoughts: I admit I picked this book up at the library because I was interested in happiness and the book sounded like it gave a philosophical bent on the subject. While it is not the premise of the book the book is still a fascinating look into the history of philosophy and a look at the questions of our time.
The first part of the book delves into the history an attempts to answer questions such as what is the self? How to prove God is real and other such questions philosophy have been grappling with since the beginning of time. The second part of the book is more focused on Modern questions and it does ask how to be happy (in a philosophical way). It also tackles such big questions such as abortion and not eating meat.
The chapters are short so it never feels like the book is dragging. Some chapters are only a few pages in length. The author avoids what could be a dry philosophical text and instead with skill of writing he turns it into a fun book to read. It is accessible even to people that don’t have a background in philosophy.In the end it all sums it up nicely and does include a short chapter on how to be happy.

The Sunday Salon

 

It has been a while since I did I Sunday Salon. Not much has happened. My classes take up most of my time but I am experimenting with a new schedule so that I have time for everything I want to do. We shall see how it goes.

I read A Happiness Project last year and I have it on hold at the library for a re read. I have decided that starting this month (March 1 ) that I will do my own happiness project. I will be talking about it on my tumblr (click here).

I have recently become fascinated with the topic of creativity and of course happiness so I checked out some books on those topics.  I am not un happy but sometimes I feel I get so caught up in the day to day life that I miss out on the larger picture. My friends have told me to make goals but I am not sure what kind of goals I should make in order to enrich the day to day life. I have overall goals like obtaining my PH.D but other than that I am not sure. Have you ever made happiness goals and if so what were they?

I have started to use Penzu to journal stuff. I read The Artist Way last year and the author recommended that you write 750 words as morning pages every day. I find when I do that I do find solutions to things that were within me. It also helps to get it all out then I can focus on what I need to focus on.

It is a bit strange that the books I read last year are just now making me want to implement change. Maybe that is how it works for me I need to let an idea percolate in my brain for a while before I act up on it.

I hope everyone has a happy Sunday and a good week. After church I will be curled up on this grey day with a book and a good cup of coffee!

Review: 21 Ways of Finding Peace and Happiness

From GoodReads:
In today's world, peace is hard to come by.
When personal desires are followed, serenity
is forfeited. By submitting one's life to God, a
peace-filled life is ensured. Maintaining peace
is a choice, says Joyce Meyer, as she discusses
how to be at peace with yourself, the importance
of having peace with God, and the paradox
that peace equals power. Joyce says peace
is one of the greatest gifts God has given us,
and is the only way to true happiness. Readers
will find 21 WAYS TO FINDING PEACE &
HAPPINESS to be a guidebook for success on
their journey
My thoughts: Joyce Myers is one of my favorite authors. I feel that her books speak to me and tell me valuable life lessons to live a better life. My reading thing at the moment is reading books on how to be more happy. It seems that this year I made up my mind that I was going to be happy no matter what. So I got some books at the library on the subject. This was one of those books.
She outlines ways to be happy that follow biblical principals. The one that stood out to me was the section that you had to pursue happiness. It doesn't just come to you. Happiness is something that you have to work on. One way to be happy that resounded with me was to pursue peace. At first I thought that I did pursue peace but as I read I realize that I do let my temper control me a lot of the times. And that robs me of peace and happiness. In it she list such things as idle talk, gossiping and other such things that can lead to loss of peace. Right now I wonder what it is safe to talk about but upon farther reflection I realize I could talk about happy things and wish people a good day and such and leave no room for drama and that in turn would bring me peace which will increase my happiness.
Like all of her books this illuminated things that I need to work on. Even if you are not a Christian I would encourage you to read this book as it has some good guidelines to follow to increase happiness.

Review: Eat That Frog

The legendary Eat That Frog! (more than 450,000 copies sold and translated into 23 languages) provides the 21 most effective methods for conquering procrastination and accomplishing more. This new edition is revised and updated throughout, and includes brand new information on how to keep technology from dominating our time.
I was reading through Google Reader when I came upon Unfinished Person’s blog. He talked about this book and I thought I need to learn how to manage my time. Between Grad school and my hobbies I feel that there is not enough time in the day. So I promptly requested this book from the library.
It was interesting. Brain Tracey the author says to do the most pressing thing first. To”eat the ugliest and biggest frog” then do other things. I have to admit that I tend to do the opposite. I procrastinate until I have no choice then I feel stressed out by my perceived lack of time. Once I followed his advice and broke down what I was actually doing I found that I wasted a  lot of time on Facebook and online. So From now on I am going to do the most pressing things first then if I have time to do other less pressing things.
This book is recommended for people who want to learn how to better manage their time.

Sink Reflections

I have followed Flylady for a few months now. When I saw that she had a book out I went to the Library and got it. The basic information can be found on her website but she has such a fresh and funny voice that you wont mind reading the book too.
I am the world messiest person. I had read other organizational books but none of them stuck. Flylady is all about baby steps. You don’t tackele all of your problems at once but rather you take baby steps to build routines that will get to the root of your problems. You start with shining your sink and build up from there.
What makes it even more refreshing is that Flylady herself has been where millions are now. She writes with sympathy and encouragement.You never feel that she is talking down to you but rather building you up to where you need to be.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has trouble keep a house decently clean. This book will guide you and it it is easy to follow.