For those who find that reading fits their mode of learning, I offer the following recommendations, with these
two caveats:
1. My list is hardly exhaustive. It represents just the tip of the iceberg of the hundreds of books which address
creativity, mindfulness, meditation, art, etc. Search for good books. Ask others for recommendations. Books are
teachers: when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
2. If you’re a lover of books (as I am) and enjoy reading for its own sake (as I do), it’s important to be aware
that reading itself can be a form of avoidance. That is, reading about an activity can be an way of avoiding
doing the activity. So ask yourself this question, “Do I really need to read one more book about creativity or
can I instead be working?” You may have enough intellectual understandingalready. It may be time to create.
If I were pressed to name the most important trait for artists to develop, it would be self-awareness. Our creative
blocks don’t exist in our tubes of paint, in our musical instruments, or on our monitor screens. They exist in us.
Consequently, all the books and all the coaching in the world won’t help us identify and manage our creative
blocks if we remain unwilling to look within ourselves. Self-awareness is the key. Many of the books
recommended on my list will help guide the development of that crucial trait.
An Essential Reading List:
art and creativity
Fearless Creativity, Eric Maisel, ISBN 0-87477-805-0
Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Maisel, ISBN 1-57731-464-6
Art and Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland, ISBN 0-9614547-3-3
Point Zero–Creativity Without Limits, Michele Cassou, ISBN 1-558542-085-9
Flow–The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ISBN 0-06-016253-8
The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron, ISBN 1-58542-146-4
awareness / mindfulness
The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle, ISBN 1-57731-152-3
Loving What Is, Byron Katie, ISBN 0-609-60874-6
The Work of This Moment, Toni Packer, ISBN 0-877773-536-0
Mindfulness in Plain English, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, 0-86171-321-4
Buddhism Without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor, ISBN 1-57322-656-4
anxiety & fear
The Fear Book, Cheri Huber, (http://keepitsimple.livingcompassion.org/catalog.html)
When You’re Falling Dive, Cheri Huber, (http://keepitsimple.livingcompassion.org/catalog.html)
The Places That Scare You, , Pema Chodron, ISBN 1-57062-409-7
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, Edmund Bourne, ISBN 1-56731-074-5
personal transformation
Radical Acceptance, Tara Brach, ISBN 0-553-80167-8
Soul Without Shame, Byron Brown, ISBN 1-57062-383-x
The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine N. Aron, ISBN 0-553-06218-2
The Gift, Poems by Hafiz, trans. Daniel Ladinsky, ISBN 0-14-01.9581-5
Recommended Links:
For those who prefer surfing the web, I offer this handful of useful sites. More will be forthcoming...
www.creativitycoachingassociation.com
www.ericmaisel.com
www.thework.org
www.planetsark.com
www.promoteyourcreativity.com
