In today's episode on the Joy of Living Creatively, the second in a nine-part series on "creative obstacles," I chat about how writers who take my nonfiction book proposal writing workshops start with such enthusiasm and quickly lose that enthusiasm as the largeness of the task in front of them becomes all too abundantly clear.
The episode, called "Fearing Difficulty," focuses on our natural desire that the creative work in front of us might be just a little bit easier to accomplish than it is--and the courage we have to muster in the face of the ordinary difficulties that come with creative effort. I hope you enjoy this week's episode!

Fearing Difficulty

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Society &amp; Culture

Today’s episode is part of a series called “Creative Recovery,” based on the book of the same name, published by Shambhala Press, that addictions’ special Susan Raeburn and I have written in which we describe a complete addiction recovery program for creative people. In it we take into account the risks, needs, and demands of the creative life and the creative personality. I hope that you will give Creative Recovery a peek if addiction issues are of concern to you or to somebody you know. Today’s show, the third in the series, is called “Creative Recovery.”The episode begins this way:“Creative recovery is the way you honor your creative nature by dealing with your addictive tendencies. Creative recovery is the way you serve your creative nature by recovering from your addiction. Creative recovery is the way you use your creative nature as part of the recovery process. Creative recovery is the way you create a life that includes both creating and recovery. And creative recovery is the way you educate yourself about your risks for addiction, your patterns of addiction, and the details of your creative recovery program.”Tune in to hear more!

Creative Recovery

Today’s episode is part of a series called “Creative Recovery,” based on the book of the same name, published by Shambhala Press, that addictions’ special Susan Raeburn and I have written in which we describe a complete addiction recovery program for creative people. In it we take into account the risks, needs, and demands of the creative life and the creative personality. I hope that you will give Creative Recovery a peek if addiction issues are of concern to you or to somebody you know. Today’s show, the second in the series, is called “Individuality as Addiction Risk.”The episode begins this way:“Like most people, you probably associate creativity with ideas like talent, ability, imagination, and so on. I would like you to shift your thinking and begin to associate creativity with the following idea: that creativity is an expression of individuality, an expression of a person’s desire to manifest her potential, to speak in her own voice, to have her own opinions, and to do her own work.” Tune in to hear more!

Individuality as Addiction Risk

Today’s episode is part of a series called “Creative Recovery,” based on the book of the same name, published by Shambhala Press, that addictions’ special Susan Raeburn and I have written in which we describe a complete addiction recovery program for creative people. In it we take into account the risks, needs, and demands of the creative life and the creative personality. I hope that you will give Creative Recovery a peek if addiction issues are of concern to you or to somebody you know. Today’s show, the first in the series, is called “Creativity and Addiction.”The episode begins this way:“The short story ‘The Bound Man,’ by the German author Ilse Aichinger, is a beautiful piece in the existential tradition. It goes as follows. A man awakens one morning to find himself inexplicably bound by rope. Instead of removing the rope at his first opportunity, as we might expect him to do, he decides to remain bound and to become a circus attraction, turning his accidental bondage into his trademark work. How strange! Why would a person happily accept such bondage? It is similar to the question that Franz Kafka poses in ‘The Hunger Artist,’ where a man, who also chooses to become a circus attraction, starves himself to death because he can’t find food that interests him. These authors are asking variations of the following vital question: ‘Why do people carelessly, inexplicably, and even happily do things that harm them so much?’” Tune in to hear more!

Creativity and Addiction

Today’s episode is part of a series called “Nine Relationship Skills for Artists.” In the series we look at relationships skills that artists can nurture so as to become more effective advocates for their creative work and more comfortable players in the art marketplace. The series focuses on the relationship issues of visual artists but the lessons are directly translatable for creative and performing artists in every discipline and for creators in any walk of life. Today’s show, the ninth in the series, is called “Negotiating.”
The episode begins this way:
“When artists start out, they typically accept any arrangement offered them, as they are pleased to have anything good happen to them and fear that trying to negotiate will cost them the opportunity. But after years of hard-knock experience, they learn that they really must negotiate and protect their interests. How good are your negotiating skills? More to the point, how strong is your willingness to negotiate?” 
Tune in to hear more!

Negotiating

Today’s episode is part of a series called “Nine Relationship Skills for Artists.” In the series we look at relationships skills that artists can nurture so as to become more effective advocates for their creative work and more comfortable players in the art marketplace. The series focuses on the relationship issues of visual artists but the lessons are directly translatable for creative and performing artists in every discipline and for creators in any walk of life. Today’s show, the eighth in the series, is called “Maintaining Long-Distance Relationships.”
The episode begins this way:
“On a visit to London you made a great connection with a gallery owner, who subsequently agreed to show your work. Your paintings have been selling in that gallery nicely but not spectacularly. You know that you ought to pay more attention to that relationship, as you fear that the gallery owner may drop you in favor of some newer or hotter artist, as that happens often enough. How can you maintain that relationship over the great distance of many thousands of miles? Are emails enough? What else can you do?”
Tune in to hear more!

Fearing Difficulty

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