The drama with the twins has had me more distracted from the rest of my life than I care to be. The bureaucracy is maddening and uncommunicative, as we found ourselves here in Columbus, Ohio (in a hotel room since November 16) for yet another weekend, with the dear hope that we will finally, finally be released Monday.
I’m working on a couple of articles/blog posts that have seemed particularly relevant/eye-popping/heart-shifting for me as I noticed them, but I can’t quite get my brain around them with everything going on.
So, instead, here are some posts by some amazingly cool people that just rocked my world, and I thought they would touch you, too.
I’m A Bigger Virgo Than He Is: Adam Kayce, Monk At Work
He’s also the dude who designed this new look on the site, rock-star quality, eh? And, he wrote a post about losing your perfectionism, but he did it in a way that goes beyond the pale, and is well worth reading. Oh, and he claims three planets in Virgo. Sorry, I win: five planets. Oy.
Adam’s post: Why You Should Kill Your Inner Perfectionist
The Most Profound Comfort Available: Jennifer Louden, The Comfort Queen
As I mentioned recently, Jennifer is a friend and one of my mastermind buddies- I love her. She’s also amazing with what she does, and she hangs it all right out there. Messy, sloppy, lovely, and incredibly effective and wonderful in all kinds of non-linear and surprising ways.
Her stake in the ground is around “comfort” which, as she has agonized over herself, can sound fluffy and unimportant. However, as she knows, as I know, and I suspect at least some part of you knows, too, that comfort is actually critical. Deeply critical. Profoundly critical. Absolutely critical. Without comfort, healing and growth are no possible.
So, I recommend what she’s written here:
Jennifer’s Post: What to Do When You Feel Alone and Scared
Pushing My Top-Ten Buttons: Molly Gordon, Shaboom, Inc.
Well, this round-up is turning into a round-up of friends, it seems. Molly is one, too. Although I have to admit I was a fan of hers for years before we met in person. Now we’re in that same mastermind group I mentioned above. Deep gratitude that people I admire and love so much have become friends and business buddies.
Anyhoo, Molly is all about “Accidental Entrepreneurs.” You know, people who end up in business for themselves accidentally. The only way they could go, because, hey, there’s no jobs out there doing what you want to do.
At this point I should say that I have a strong aversion to “Top Ten Lists.” It’s basically because I’m an intimacy junkie– I crave intimacy, and those Top Ten lists people write up usually bore me to tears.
Except Molly wrote a Top Ten list that I kept nodding “Yup. Uh huh. That’s right. Oh yeah, good one. Oh, good reminder.” All the way down.
Molly’s Post: 10 Mistakes Accidental Entrepeneurs Make When Worrying About Money
On Renegade French Writers: Men With Pens
My senior year in college I did a thesis on Oulipo: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle. Wikipedia translates it as “workshop of potential literature” but really, the French writers (and one American) were thinking more “knitting circle of potential literature.” At any rate, they were way into restrictions to foster creativity.
Two of the more famous examples include La Disparition by Georges Perec, a perfectly readable novel written entirely without words containing the letter “E” which is, as it also is in English, the most common letter in the French language. Another example is Italo Calvino‘s novel The Castle of Crossed Destinies, which he based entirely on a (random? not-random? Depends on your belief in tarot.) tarot reading.
And there goes James Chartrand, who isn’t a friend (but I hope will be some day), but more of a distant acquaintance at this point, writing on how restrictions help your creativity. Listen up! You don’t need more freedom for your creativity, you need more restrictions. BIG business lesson here.
Men With Pens: Restrict Your Creativity to Unleash It.
That’s It.
My short Saturday round-up. Which has sparked ideas for several other posts, but I’ll get to them… hopefully from my cozy Portland office. Oh pray, please pray for us, that we go home on Monday.
One Last Thing After “That’s It.”
It’s not too late to grab one of the last slots in the Opening the Moneyflow Course. Next one won’t be until 2010. Six months of intense, hands-on support to get the fundamentals that will make your business work and… open the flow of money. Past participants have called it “graduate school.” But, there are very few prerequesites. Fill out an app, and let’s talk.
Okay, enjoy your Saturday, or whenever you get around to reading this.
peace
Mark
5 Responses
Renegade French writer… I like that. Like it a lot.
That post on restricting creativity seems to have really hit the mark with a lot of people. I’m glad it did.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens
Mark, thanks for the generous plug. Hard to believe you had time to read all those posts with two new babies, cross-country travel, teaching, writing, coaching, and being an all around cool Sufi dude.
Molly Gordon
Absolutely, you two. It’s hard to believe it took me all week just to get back to the post and let you know I saw both your comments. 🙂
Ach – sorry it took me so long to get here. With the dashboard boxes of 2.7 changing around, I lost track of my Incoming Links box. (situation remedied already, like a good little Virgo)
And yes, it’s true, thou art much more Virgo than I am. I’ve known you long enough, and well enough, to see the Virgo in you, and through it, gain a better appreciation of my own.
All in time, my brudda from anudda mudda. 🙂