The Dreaming CafeBook Reviews | The Dreaming Cafe

Best Book of 2011

Sandy — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:25:43 +0000

I read a lot and I have quite a few favorite books. Favorite books are ones I refer to and read again and again for the message they share or the practical information they teach me.

Every once in a while I come across a book that goes beyond being just a favorite book. These books, rare and far between, are books that reach out, grab me and touch me in a way that after reading them I’ll never be the same again. Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World by Christine Mason Miller is one such book.

This book is pure food for the soul. I could not put it down. I gave up trying to copy inspirational passages after page 38 because there were just too many.

Christine weaves her own story about living a creative life throughout every chapter while also sharing the insights and stories of 19 other writers, artists, coaches, entrepreneurs and teachers.

This book touched me so deeply that before finishing chapter two I ordered six more copies to share with friends.

Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World speaks to the quiet little part of you that secretly knows that you have a gift to contribute to the world, a gift that not only lifts you up, but has the potential to lift others up, too. So many times we suppress this inner knowing out of fear, lack of self-love and self-confidence and a host of other reasons. Many of us have suppressed this small voice for so many years it only whispers to us in the dark when we can’t sleep, when we stop our busyness or in moments when discontent rears its ugly head. Then we hear, but, again, we may not listen.

Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World will open the door to your heart and soul and give space to that inner knowing, that inner voice. It’s not just about following your heart, expressing your creative self, or making a living doing what you love. It is about becoming who you were born to be and meeting the responsibility of sharing your gifts. It’s about sharing your truth, being true to yourself and making your world and the world around you better for it.

Through personal stories, sharing how others have overcome the many obstacles of living a creative, authentic life, a wide variety of exercises, inspirational quotes and page after page of beautiful images this book will help you begin ‘using your creative passion to transform the world’, starting with your own.

There isn’t one chapter, one page in Desire to Inspire: Using Creative Passion to Transform the World that didn’t captivate me, inspire me, make me think and call me to action.

Chapter Titles:

A Force of Good: When We Care for Ourselves, We Care for the World
The Foundation: What Values Are Shaping Your Daily Choices?
Walking Hand in Hand: The Partnership Between You and Your Dream
Mentors, Guides and Beacons of Light: Our Work as Students, Our Gifts as Teachers
Twists, Turns and Other Beautiful Surprises: It’s All About the Journey
The Ripple Effect of Inspiration: Small Acts Can Have a Big Impact
Plenty of Room for Everyone: Understanding Our Unique Place and Purpose
Finding the Way Through: Believing in Ourselves, One Challenge at a Time
The World Outside Ourselves: What it Means to Be of Service to Others
Declarations and Intentions: Creating a Personal Mission Statement

Sample passage that I related to on many levels was from from Chapter Seven (page 88):

“In this age of immediacy – when I am privy to the latest creations, developments, deals, ideas and endeavors of my friends, colleagues and kindred spirits – it takes little or no effort to feel like a small fish in a big, crowded pond that doesn’t have enough room for everyone. This leads to feeling like I have to fiercely guard my corner of the pond against invasions, encroachment or intrusion. All it takes is an hour of browsing the Web to fill my head with the comings and goings of everyone else and lose sight of my own unique ideas, creations, and perspectives. Before too long not only am I feeling defensive – but also pondering thoughts like, “Does the world really need another book on inspiration and creativity? There can’t possibly be room for mine!” “

Christine and the contributors to the book continues to share their experiences and challenge these thoughts and others like them throughout the chapter – and throughout the entire book.

First Monday: What is Sandy Reading – Dec. 2011

Sandy — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:32:15 +0000

I’ve only read two books this past month. Both packed a mighty punch and are chock-full of great ideas that you can began implementing right away.

Book 1

If you are in business you have to know how to sell. It’s such a practical, no-brainer that I think sometimes people forget it. This book is a classic and a great introduction to the basics of learning how to sell. (Yes, selling is a skill you can learn!)

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling by Frank Bettger

Originally published in 1949 when Frank Bettger was in his 60′s.

Frank Bettger shares his failures and successes and the things he learned as he moved from being a professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals, to selling insurance. The stories he shares transport you to a different time, a different era, but the lessons he shares are just all relevant today as they were then.

How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling is a fun, easy read packed with dozens of little gems that can be implemented immediately.

The whole book boils down into two main themes: how to build and maintain relationships and how to embark on a lifelong journey of learning and growth…and how both are the key to selling successfully.

Book 2

I’ve reaffirmed my committment to to be a self-supporting writer. I’m serious, and so is Peter Bowerman. It took me most of the month to work my way through The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Commercial Freelancer in Six Months or Less, taking notes along the way, but it is also helping me form the framework to stop playing around and get serious about being a professional, ‘freelance commercial writer’.

The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Commercial Freelancer in Six Months or Less by Peter Bowerman

This book is about building a ‘freelance commercial writing’ business as a copywriter. It is a densely packed volume of ideas including how to start, how to find clients, what types of projects you may take on, how to find support and so much more.

If you are serious about working for yourself and writing (two of my BIG dreams), but you haven’t quite made it yet, I’d read this book and consider my options. Which I did and I am.

Related posts:

Why I Read Less

First Monday, November 2011

First Monday – What is Sandy Reading?

Sandy — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:00:32 +0000

In an effort to blog more and to help create some structure here at The Dreaming Café I’ve decided that the first Monday of the month I’ll post and share some of the books I’ve read in the past month or so.

Often times a person’s library can tell you a lot about a person. My hope is that by sharing the books I’m reading it will help you get to know me a little better.

My second objective is to help you discover a few books that just might be what you need just when you need it.

First Monday – November 2011

Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie

The first thing this book did was help me discover companies that I’d never heard of before that shares many of my own values.

The second thing this book did was scare the bejeebers out of me as it stirred up old ideas, old feelings and started me thinking about an idea I’ve had for almost two decades. I’m still in the midst of processing the books ideas and the ideas it has stirred.

The third thing it did was prompt me to take action and begin teaching and sharing again. I hosted my first teleclass in more than nine months just last week. Plus, I’m writing more and having a great time. Things are coming together and my vision for both my personal life and my business are becoming clearer.

If you are looking for an inspiring stories combined with ideas to help bring your own ideas to life this book is a great book for your personal library.

The Barefoot Executive: The Ultimate Guide for Being Your Own Boss and Achieving Financial Freedom by Carrie Wilkerson

I started following Carrie on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/barefoot_exec) a few years ago and enjoyed the tips she shared about working from home and balancing self-employment and family. She was very focused not only about her business, but her family as well and I admired her for this.

I purchased her book a few days after it came out and was very happy I did. Carrie shares much about her personal life and her motivations. At the same time she provides practically ideas about starting your own business.

Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich with Peace of Mind was published in 1967 when Napoleon Hill was 84 years old, three years before he died.

It is written from the perspective of a man who has not only learned about success and failure from others but has lived the same ups and downs in his own life. He lived the life of the wealthy, having a large home with servants and owning two Roll Royce’s. He also lived through losing it all and having to rebuild his life. This book expands on the original ideas in the classic Think and Grow Rich originally published in 1937 based on his own life experiences.

If you read the 1937 classic, enjoyed it and learned from it I think you will find the depth of information and the stories even more inspiring in this less well known, but certainly classic, book.

Full disclosure – all book links are Amazon affiliate links, meaning if you buy a book I link to Amazon will pay me a few shekels (coins).

Retreat or Adventure Vacation

Sandy — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:39:04 +0000

I am reading “Only Pack What You Can Carry: My Path to Inner Strength, Confidence, and True Self-Knowledge” by Janice Holly Booth. Her writing is captivating and her story pulls you in from page one.

She describes her four essentials for a life journey as:

Solitude: “You cannot think deeply, in any kind of extended way, about anything until you spend alone time with yourself. An hour here or there is a start but it doesn’t get you far enough. You need days to wrestle with the big questions we all need to be asking ourselves.”

Introspection: “Within your time alone – if you don’t fill up with e-mail, iPods, cell phones, magazines and fluff – you will have a chance to to visit or revisit some of the things you’ve had trouble grasping before. Introspection is not easy. It’s a discipline, a sort of meditation.”

Courage: “In order to find out who you are and what you’re made of, you must push your envelope to the fringes of your limits. And then you must push it some more.”

Commitment: “It’s not enough to carve out alone time once, or give serious thought to a problem one time, or overcome a single challenge and consider it done.” [Sandy's comment - meaning you have to keep carving out the time, year after year.]

She has me pondering what it would be like to make it a habit to spend a week or a month alone every year exploring who I am, where I am and what’s next.

Should I consider an adventure vacation, hiking, learning to climb, a native american vision quest? Bing.com had an interesting slide show of easy adventures, a.k.a ‘adventure vacations for the couch potato’. Posh camping in Bali looked pretty cool as did the ‘sailing to nowhere’ vacation where you can stay aboard a ship that never leaves dock.

An adventure or outdoors vacation seems an odd choice for someone (me) who doesn’t usually spend a lot of time outside and usually prefers to enjoy nature from a climate controlled environment. At the same time it has a strange appeal and it would obviously push me way outside my comfort zone.

Or, would a retreat style, mini-sabbatical be more my style? Inspired by the Salon.com article, “Reading retreats: Paradise for book lovers” this is another intriguing post “5 Great Vacations for Readers” and had me leaning this way for a bit. A reading retreat would fit the bill for solitude and introspection, but I’m not sure it would push me outside my comfort zone.

I think something in-between might fit the bill like a mediation retreat or some time alone in a cabin in the mountains.

Time alone spent like this would mean plenty of solitude and time for introspection. It would take some courage or my part and push me outside my comfort zone since these are not experiences I have had before. In terms of commitment, I think a baby step retreat like this would lead to more adventures and bigger adventures as each year I stretched a little further.

Yep, I think this is something I’m going to commit to doing. I’ll do a little research on my own the next few weeks, but in the meantime do you have any suggestions for meditation or mountain retreat?

Related Links:

Storytelling Adventures in Las Vegas, Seven Things I Learned

Another list-Traveling With just my Backpack

Winners Announced – Uncertainty Book Giveaway

Sandy — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:43:31 +0000

First, thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment, or share the Uncertainty – A Story and a Book Giveaway blog post link on Twitter and Facebook.

Second, the three winners are . . . Rasheed, Nancy and Renee. You know who you are. I’ll be emailing you today to get your mailing address. Congratulations!!

Snapshot of my Excel spreadsheet and the winners.

Uncertainty – A Story and a Book Giveaway

Sandy — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:27:23 +0000

Uncertainty Book Trailer – Jonathan Fields

(http://www.TheUncertaintyBook.com)

Uncertainty – Jonathan Field share your (my) story

http://www.jonathanfields.com/blog/ride-the-butterflies-the-story-contest/

I want you to share a time where you danced with uncertainty…and won. A story where you felt the butterflies, the anxiety and fear, where you thought about turning back, maybe you even did, but then turned back around and ended up creating or becoming or doing something amazing. It could be about art, business, love, health, life, whatever. It just has to be real, no fables here.

I want you to inspire people not only with what you’ve accomplished, overcome and moved through, but with your willingness to reveal your dreams, struggles and successes. To own the gremlins and the glory.

________________________________________
My Story…

Jonathans contest really hit home today. It was a little eerie, like he was talking just to me and was challenging me to dig deeper.

Just in the past 24-hours I’ve come face to face with an idea that has been circling in and out of my consciousness for almost two decades. It won’t leave me alone – and it is scaring the daylights out of me.

I am dancing with uncertainty right now and feeling all the associated fear, anxiety and what if’s… What if I’m making a mistake? What if this is what I was born to do? What if I make the wrong choice and waste my time? What if this is real? What if I end up broke, sick and homeless? What if I touch someone’s life and change it for the better?

I began to think back to other times when I danced with uncertainty, looking for just the perfect, storybook ending tale to share.

I thought about sharing how scared I was when I quit my job to follow my dreams, to write and to build my own business. How awesome it was to help others, and to be paid for helping them. How much it felt like a dream to write and share my words with others through my newsletter and blog and how much it touched my heart when my words touched the heart of another.

Or, I thought, maybe I should share the story about how anxious I was when I slowed down and put the brakes on my dream to return to work part-time so I’d have the financial resources to care for my Mom as she battled stage IV breast cancer. How worried I was that my entrepreneur friends and the readers who were turning to me for information and inspiration wouldn’t understand my choice. Or, how grateful I am to be able to be with my Mom during this time and how grateful I am to relieve her burdens and worries about money so she can just enjoy the time she has and to relax into the present moment when she spends time with her family.

Then I thought back to the time I decided to share my writing for the first time and how it opened a whole new world for me.

Or the time I attended my first art/creativity workshop, traveled away from home and shared a room with a woman from Canada I’d met on Twitter. How this experience helped me move beyond my fears of meeting new people, trying new things and to trust – to trust myself and others.

Then I moved further back in time. I thought about the butterflies in my stomach on my first day of kindergarten; when I wrote my first book in the second grade and sent it to a children’s author who had visited us and how she wrote me back to acknowledge and encourage me to write; the first time I played drums on stage in the third grade; when I won my first essay contest in the tenth grade; when I made my first vision board less than ten years ago and verbalized for the first time what I really wanted; the first time I attended a non-work related workshop, a workshop just for me and how it started me on the path of self-discovery I travel today.

I have no single, BIG, earth-shaking, storybook ending tale to share that will inspire people. But, each and every one of these tiny little, “ride the butterflies” steps, steps that felt like giant leaps at the time, shifted and changed my world a little at a time, growing my self-confidence and self-knowledge bit by bit.

Today I am dancing with uncertainty again and the butterflies feel more like bats in my belly. But, I’ve learned to trust those butterflies and to follow them wherever they lead. Along with the way I’ve also learned to ask for help, so I know I won’t be traveling this road all alone.

Book Giveaway – Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields

I pre-ordered Jonathan’s book when I first heard about it.

Then he offered a great 3-book bundle deal that I couldn’t pass up. I knew I would give them away, I just wasn’t sure when I ordered them how I’d go about it.

So here’s the deal.

Do one or all of the things listed below between September 26, 2011 and Thursday, September 29, 2011 (Uncertainty launch day) and your name will be placed in a pool and three lucky, randam winners will be chosen to receive a copy of Joanthan’s new book, Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance. Winners will be announced here on Friday, September 30th. I’ll contact you via email, Facebook or Twitter for your mailing address (shipping and handling is on me.)

Leave a comment below about this post, Jonathan’s book or share a bit your “ride the butterflies” story.

Post a comment on The Dreaming Cafe’s Facebook Page about this post, Jonathan’s book or share a bit your “ride the butterflies” story.

Share a link to this post on Facebook (don’t forget to tag me or The Dreaming Cafe). Link: http://thedreamingcafe.com/2011/09/26/uncertainty-story-book-giveaway/

ReTweet this post on Twitter (RT @sandydfromnj Uncertainty – A Story and a Book Giveaway http://thedreamingcafe.com/2011/09/26/uncertainty-story-book-giveaway/)

It’s that easy to win a copy of Jonathan Field’s Uncertainty: Turning Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance.

Ready? Set? GO!

What is Sandy reading now?

Sandy — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:08:03 +0000

If you haven’t already figured it out, one of my favorite pastimes is reading. I’m often asked “what are you reading now?” I’m usually reading more than one book at a time and today is no different. The books I’m reading are listed below and are split evenly between ones I own and ones from the library. So far, I’m loving each and every one of these. I pick them up and can’t put them down. This makes for late nights and early mornings and little sleep, but oh what a joy it is to read and discover new things.

I hope you enjoy checking out my reading list.

Peace and blessings,
Sandy

PS Full disclosure…the links below are all Amazon Affiliate Links, meaning if you click one of the images it will take you to Amazon.com and if you buy anything I’ll earn a few shekels (coins). So, feel free to shop like crazy.

What is Sandy reading now?

Fortytude: Making the Next Decades the Best Years of Your Life — through the 40s, 50s, and Beyond by Sarah Brokaw

Creative Is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative by Patti Digh

Two new art journaling books…

Raw Art Journaling by Quinn McDonald

Visual Journaling: Going Deeper than Words by Barbara Ganim

This last book is all about a local small, BIG business, a grocery chain that is very popular in my new of the woods.

A Symphony of Soloists: The Story of Wakefern and ShopRite by Jeffrey L. Rodengen

I’m also reading the wildly fun, inspiring and beautiful e-magazines from Wild Sister.

This is the cover from issue 2.

Click here to visit Wild Sister.(affiliate link)

6 Visual Journaling, Art Journaling, Mixed Media Art Books

Sandy — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:50:01 +0000

The following are the six visual journaling, art journaling, mixed media art books I own (Amazon affiliate links).

I use these books to learn about art journaling, to be inspired and to just relax by looking at the pictures. They also contain a wealth of knowledge about beginning and continuing your own art journal journey. And, it is a journey, a long one. There is so much to learn about the medium itself, as well as, the journey of discovery to your own inner you.

PS…it’s loads of fun, too!!

If you have any recommendations for other books in this genre please leave a comment and share the title and the author. Thanks!

Sandy’s Bookshelf

Art and Visual Journaling:

Journal Revolution: Rise Up & Create! Art Journals, Personal Manifestos and Other Artistic Insurrections
Linda Woods

The Art Journal Workshop: Break Through, Explore, and Make it Your Own
Traci Bunkers

The Journal Junkies Workshop: Visual Ammunition for the Art Addict
Eric M. Scott

The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real
Lisa Sonora Beam

Creative Awakenings: Envisioning the Life of Your Dreams Through Art
Sheri Gaynor

Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects to Spark Your Creativity
Suzanne Simanaitis

FREE Books on Amazon Kindle

Sandy — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:50:06 +0000

Most of these books are offered FREE for a limited time only on Amazon Kindle. Download them today and ENJOY!!

Non-Fiction

Do the Work [Kindle Edition] by Steven Pressfield (2011)

Tales of the Revolution: True Stories of People who are Poking the Box and Making a Difference [Kindle Edition] by Seth Godin (Editor) (2011)

The Power of Your Spirit – Special Free Preview [Kindle Edition] by Sonia Choquette (2011)

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin [Kindle Edition]

Today We Are Rich [Kindle Edition] by Tim Sanders (2011)

Fiction (Classics)

The Scarlet Letter [Kindle Edition] by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Little Women [Kindle Edition] by Louisa May Alcott

Check out this link for more FREE Books for Amazon Kindle.

The Power and Potential of Small Steps

Sandy — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:05:59 +0000

Do you feel overwhelmed sometimes by all the ideas you have and the possibilities of what you can and want to do?

Do you feel stuck, unable to choose?

Do you sometimes feel like you’re failing because you never seem to finish one project before you start the next?

Do you have trouble carrying one idea through from start to finish?

Or, are you so overwhelmed that you have no idea where to start, so that so you end up doing nothing and going nowhere?

I know. I understand. This is the limbo state I found myself in for years.

Conventional success and goalsetting wisdom just didn’t work for me. I tried and failed and tried and failed again.

That is until I discovered an unconventional way to get moving, set goals and begin living the life of my dreams.

In my book, The Power and Potential of Small Steps: How Learning to Take Small Steps Can Change Your Life in BIG Ways I share with you the things I’ve learned so that you, too can begin living a life you love.

This book is my entry in the the Next Top Self-Help Author Competition. It’s kind of like American Idol except it’s for writers.

To advance from round one to round two part of the criteria is that I have to have people vote for my book. The deadline for voting is February 28, 2011.

I’m reaching out and asking everyone I know to vote for me and my book. It takes less than 30-seconds to register and vote.

Thank you in advance for voting!!

Want to know more? Keep reading…

Book Description:

The Power and Potential of Small Steps: How Learning to Take Small Steps Can Change Your Life in BIG Ways

Taking small steps implies action, even if it is just the barest of movement.

Taking action, taking small, incremental steps in the direction of your goals, dreams and the life you want can be very a very empowering and transformative experience. One small step leads to another and another and another. Soon you are taking small steps and not even realizing it. Your confidence grows and the momentum begins to carry you forward.

But, how do you start? Thats the trick. You may know in your head and your heart that to move you just need to start, but it can still be hard.

The Power and Potential of Small Steps will show you how to start moving and taking those steps each and every day despite fears and self-doubt.

If you are feeling stuck, overwhelmed or just dont know where to start when it comes to living a life you love or achieving your goals and dreams this book will help.

Sandy will walk you through the small steps principles including Start With a Fuzzy Vision, Obstacles & Roadblocks Dont Let Them Stop You, Planning and Research are Overrated, Building a Community of Support, Fear and Resistance and Recognizing When Youve Arrived and Celebrating.

The Power and Potential of Small Steps: How Learning to Take Small Steps Can Change Your Life in BIG Ways is your companion guide to achieving your goals and dreams and living the life you want.

Thank you!!!

The Dreaming CafeBook Reviews | The Dreaming Cafe

Best Book of 2011

First Monday: What is Sandy Reading – Dec. 2011

First Monday – What is Sandy Reading?

First Monday – November 2011

Retreat or Adventure Vacation

Winners Announced – Uncertainty Book Giveaway

Uncertainty – A Story and a Book Giveaway

Uncertainty Book Trailer – Jonathan Fields

Uncertainty – Jonathan Field share your (my) story

Book Giveaway – Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields

What is Sandy reading now?

What is Sandy reading now?

6 Visual Journaling, Art Journaling, Mixed Media Art Books

FREE Books on Amazon Kindle

Check out this link for more FREE Books for Amazon Kindle.

The Power and Potential of Small Steps

Book Description: