newsletter0706

June 2007

the

Encourager

be inspired......be encouraged.....be YOU!

Celebrating! Volume 3, Issue #1

What's New?

What do you think of "The Encourager's" new look?

We're dressed up for our birthday. Yep, we have a birthday this month!

In June of 2005 we sent out the first "Encourager" - to a tiny subscription list of 35!! - the list has grown and grown and now we're two years old!

We've added a new section called "Dealing with Creativity".

We're looking forward to YOU sharing your thoughts and experiences on the creative process here!

We've also updated our About Us page (finally!)

This month

What's New?

Spotlight on Square-Peg-People.com

Stacks Review: Fearless Creating

Looking Ahead

The course that got us started:

Square-Peg Celebration!
Want to celebrate YOU?
Come explore your Square-Pegness with the e-course that focuses on what's right with you, not what's wrong with you!

Square Peg Spotlight

Staff meeting at our favorite tea shop

Here's what we're reading now ~
Karen:
Lauren: Harry:
we're all anxiously waiting for:

Check out Harry's Website:

This isn't the "normal" Square-Peg Spotlight interview - we're not answering the regular questions...What we thought we'd do here is tell you a bit about who we are and how we got started.
So many people have become part of Square-Peg-People since it's beginning back in 2005 - through subscribing to The Encourager, writing to us about their Square-Peg experiences, coming to the telecalls, sending in material to share, bringing friends to the site, etc. - and we realize that, since many current readers weren't with us from the beginning, they may not know our "story". We decided to try to remedy that.
Some of this information has been shared in different places and times, but we wanted to try to bring a bit of our story together in one place to share with YOU.
Up until a few years ago I (Karen) was a Master's level psychotherapist working mostly with people who were dealing with grief and/or trauma. I saw something wildly attractive and alive
in people who allowed grief or trauma "in" - who did not run from these hard experiences of life - but walked (and, because they ARE hard - even sometimes crawled) through them.
In my therapy practice I found myself doing something I'd done with friends ever since I could remember - recommending books! Books have always been important to me (read more about my connection to books in Square-Peg Stacks - where you'll find all the one's reviewed) so sharing them with others was natural.
After hearing comments like: "That book changed my life!" or "This is just what I needed" over and over - I realized that I had a bit of a gift for matching people and books.
So - I had these two loves: people who lived life deeply and books. they weren't really connected except in my therapy practice .
Until I took the "You University" class lead by Artella's Marney Makridakis. I took the class to get Read more...

Square Peg Stacks

Square-Peg Sidenotes

Here are some other creativity related Square-Peg book reviews:
The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

Make Your Creative Dreams Real by SARK

Living Big by Pam Grout

Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland

Remember! when you buy books from our Amazon affiliate links, you are supporting Square-Peg-People.com without spending a cent more!

Fearless Creating

Reviews Fearless Creating by Eric Maisel
This book has been an example, in my life, of the saying: When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
Fearless Creating has been my mentor. I noticed it right when I was ready for it. Behind me was the meandering path of questioning: "Am I really an artist? Do i have talent?". I was ready to call myself a writer - had come to terms with my abilities - but I was not sure how to proceed. Ahead of me were so many choices - my new questions were: "How?" "Where?" and "When?"
Prior to reading this book I had the mistaken idea that my writing (I actually believed this about all my creative projects, not just writing) had to flow easily - by itself. Any difficulty, any work meant that I wasn't doing something right.
Fearless Creating (and a couple friends - you can read a little more about this in the "Dealing with Creativity" section) showed me how inaccurate that thought was.

If I had read the book earlier I doubt I would have understood it. I'm sure I would not have recognized any of Eric Maisel's "anxieties" in my approach to working.
Eric Maisel normalizes anxiety - he writes about the anxiety connected with creating as if it were natural - which it IS. He also explains how to deal with different kinds of anxiety - depending on where you are in the creative process.
He not only normalizes anxiety, he champions it (if handled well!): "If you are to create you must invite anxiety in." He continues: "...But then you must manage it."
If I had read the book earlier, I also think I would have considered Fearless Creating too rule-oriented. It does have rules - of a sort. It's subtitle is: "A Step-By-Step Guide to Starting and Completing Your Work of Art" - a guide would, well - guide you! And like directions to a friend's house - you can choose to follow or not follow the "rules", the guide, the direction.
Read more...

Happy Birthday to Square-Peg-People.com!
Thanks for being part of the Square-Peg Experience!!
YOU are the reason we're here!!!

Looking Ahead
We're working on an inspirational video based on "The Encourager's" new logo: Be inspired! Be encouraged! Be YOU!
We're so excited about our birthday - and about how Square-Peg-People has grown - that we decided to make this video as our birthday present to YOU!
Look for an e-mail letting you know it's ready.
Drop us a note - we love hearing from YOU! Let us know how you found us, what you enjoy on the site (or in the newsletter), what else you'd like to see...
Have a celebrating summer - and thanks for being part of the Square-Peg experience with us!!

Karen Visit us often!
See you next month.

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Staff meeting at our favorite tea shop		Here's what we're reading now ~ Karen: Lauren: Harry: we're all anxiously waiting for: Check out Harry's Website:
This isn't the "normal" Square-Peg Spotlight interview - we're not answering the regular questions...What we thought we'd do here is tell you a bit about who we are and how we got started. So many people have become part of Square-Peg-People since it's beginning back in 2005 - through subscribing to The Encourager, writing to us about their Square-Peg experiences, coming to the telecalls, sending in material to share, bringing friends to the site, etc. - and we realize that, since many current readers weren't with us from the beginning, they may not know our "story". We decided to try to remedy that. Some of this information has been shared in different places and times, but we wanted to try to bring a bit of our story together in one place to share with YOU. Up until a few years ago I (Karen) was a Master's level psychotherapist working mostly with people who were dealing with grief and/or trauma. I saw something wildly attractive and alive	in people who allowed grief or trauma "in" - who did not run from these hard experiences of life - but walked (and, because they ARE hard - even sometimes crawled) through them. In my therapy practice I found myself doing something I'd done with friends ever since I could remember - recommending books! Books have always been important to me (read more about my connection to books in Square-Peg Stacks - where you'll find all the one's reviewed) so sharing them with others was natural. After hearing comments like: "That book changed my life!" or "This is just what I needed" over and over - I realized that I had a bit of a gift for matching people and books. So - I had these two loves: people who lived life deeply and books. they weren't really connected except in my therapy practice . Until I took the "You University" class lead by Artella's Marney Makridakis. I took the class to get Read more...

		Square-Peg Sidenotes Here are some other creativity related Square-Peg book reviews: The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. Make Your Creative Dreams Real by SARK Living Big by Pam Grout Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland Remember! when you buy books from our Amazon affiliate links, you are supporting Square-Peg-People.com without spending a cent more! Fearless Creating
Reviews Fearless Creating by Eric Maisel This book has been an example, in my life, of the saying: When the student is ready the teacher will appear. Fearless Creating has been my mentor. I noticed it right when I was ready for it. Behind me was the meandering path of questioning: "Am I really an artist? Do i have talent?". I was ready to call myself a writer - had come to terms with my abilities - but I was not sure how to proceed. Ahead of me were so many choices - my new questions were: "How?" "Where?" and "When?" Prior to reading this book I had the mistaken idea that my writing (I actually believed this about all my creative projects, not just writing) had to flow easily - by itself. Any difficulty, any work meant that I wasn't doing something right. Fearless Creating (and a couple friends - you can read a little more about this in the "Dealing with Creativity" section) showed me how inaccurate that thought was.	If I had read the book earlier I doubt I would have understood it. I'm sure I would not have recognized any of Eric Maisel's "anxieties" in my approach to working. Eric Maisel normalizes anxiety - he writes about the anxiety connected with creating as if it were natural - which it IS. He also explains how to deal with different kinds of anxiety - depending on where you are in the creative process. He not only normalizes anxiety, he champions it (if handled well!): "If you are to create you must invite anxiety in." He continues: "...But then you must manage it." If I had read the book earlier, I also think I would have considered Fearless Creating too rule-oriented. It does have rules - of a sort. It's subtitle is: "A Step-By-Step Guide to Starting and Completing Your Work of Art" - a guide would, well - guide you! And like directions to a friend's house - you can choose to follow or not follow the "rules", the guide, the direction. Read more...