Dare to Create!

1 review for Dare to Create!

1. 

   Gloria June 4, 2021

   I love this book because it encourages us to think of ourselves as creative, as artists, whatever our chosen passion be. As a photographer, I don’t often give enough credit to the artistic side of what we do. This book helped! Seems to me the author leaves nothing to chance and gives us a very complete manual on how to pursue our artistic expression.

   The author’s initial chapters open the door for us, for example asking us to figure out what the barriers are to our own creativity. I don’t know about you, but I have seldom considered that. She quotes the famous writer, Raymond Chandler: “There is no trap so deadly as the trap you set for yourself.“

   The author advises us how to find the expression of creativity we want to pursue: do we feel a connection; do we not notice the time going by :-); and do we feel curious and inspired. All things true for me when I first began exploring photography.

   The author’s chapter on identifying the skills that you need to become better at your chosen craft seems both essential and fun to read at the same time. And once we have a list of the skills we think we need to improve upon, she tells us how to come up with our own exercises to improve.

   I personally appreciated her chapter on taking a risk – to be done, as she says, when we think we’ve reached a plateau. I think that’s a great way off a plateau: figure out what you have not tried yet. She quotes Neale Donald Walsch: “life begins at the end of your comfort zone.“

   She also explains in some detail how to discover what your personal style is. We should review our work, looking for strengths and trends. And of course compare our current work to our past work.

   Perhaps the chapter that describes the thorny thing to think for many of us, including myself, is facing criticism. First of all even opening yourself up to criticism :-). If the criticism is constructive, she says, it will be invaluable. The author points out that bouncing back from criticism is the key. We need to put our egos aside and let ourselves learn from it.

   As a photographer, I find this book quite helpful, even though the author’s chosen artistic expressions are mostly painting and drawing. Turns out it doesn’t matter: art is art. I will refer to this book repeatedly essay try to improve my photographic skills while still having a heck of a good time.