Book picks similar to
Oblique strategies: Over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas by Brian Eno
music
self-help
creativity
non-fiction
Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success
Matthew Syed - 2010
Fans of Predictably Irrational and Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point will find many interesting and helpful insights in Bounce.
Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew
Ursula K. Le Guin - 1998
Le Guin generously shares the accumulated wisdom of a lifetime's work.
A Book of Secrets: Finding Solace in a Stubborn World
Derren Brown - 2021
By sharing his own moments of anger, frustration, loneliness and loss, Derren reveals how it's possible to find consolation and compassion in our most challenging times.A Book of Secrets is a profound and practical guide to finding value in sadness and strength from what life throws at us - it is from the difficulty of life that we find meaning and grow.
From The Murks Of The Sultry Abyss
Brandon Boyd - 2007
The second book from Brandon Boyd which follows up the successful White Fluffy Clouds, From the Murks of the Sultry Abyss comes in a special outer box, a limited edition #d sheet of stickers of artwork from Boyd, and the book itself comes sealed.
Music Habits - The Mental Game of Electronic Music Production: Finish Songs Fast, Beat Procrastination and Find Your Creative Flow
Jason Timothy - 2015
The goal of this book, is to cover music production from many different angles in a way that will change your thinking on the subject and build your confidence. Music making is a very mental and psychological game, and more often than not, all the technical stuff can hold you back from achieving your goals if you don't have the right creative habits in place first. With all the information available with a simple Google search, I wanted to really get to the heart of things that aren't being discussed nearly enough. I want to clear out all the garbage you may have been told and replace it with the essentials you can put to immediate use. Many people new to music may dive into forums and mindlessly watch video tutorials attempting to gather more and more information until they think they have enough to get going (hint: you never feel like you know enough). That would be like reading a whole encyclopedia and then being asked to recall only the important things that will get you from point A to point B. Even worse, much of the information you get will contradict the last thing you read. It's like finding a needle in a haystack only to be told it's the wrong needle. There is a much better approach. It's an approach that doesn't require you to know a lot to get started. You only need to know enough to get to the next step in your process. There is truly nothing stopping you from becoming a music producer. The ones who are successful now are the ones who started from nothing and chipped away at it until they found a way to express their unique voice. There are no gatekeepers making decisions on who is worthy and who isn't. The determining factor is you, your habits and your confidence in yourself. This book can be read from start to finish, or as a “choose your own adventure”, going directly to what you think can help you most right now. Don't get caught up thinking you have to devour everything before getting started. That isn't necessary, and isn't the point of the book. The core concepts in the book will come up time & time again which should help you retain them & be able to recall them when the need arrives. By exploring these concepts from several angles you should gain a broad view of their many uses. My hope is that this book is used as a toolbox. You simply find the right tool that moves you forward and get back to work. So few people, who have more than enough information in their heads, ever start. Of those who do start, even fewer finish what they started and are satisfied with the results. I want you to be in that small group of finishers. Let's get started.
What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20
Tina Seelig - 2009
It is scary to face a wall of choices, knowing that no one is going to tell us whether or not we are making the right decision. There is no clearly delineated path or recipe for success. Even figuring out how and where to start can be a challenge. That is, until now.As executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Tina Seelig guides her students as they make the difficult transition from the academic environment to the professional world, providing tangible skills and insights that will last a lifetime. Seelig is an entrepreneur, neuroscientist, and popular teacher, and in What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 she shares with us what she offers her students—provocative stories, inspiring advice, and a big dose of humility and humor.These pages are filled with fascinating examples, from the classroom to the boardroom, of individuals defying expectations, challenging assumptions, and achieving amazing success. Seelig throws out the old rules and provides a new model for reaching our highest potential. We discover how to have a healthy disregard for the impossible, how to recover from failure, and how most problems are remarkable opportunities in disguise.What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 is a much-needed book for everyone looking to make their mark on the world.
Om Swami: As We Know Him
Ismita/ Vidyananda Om, Swami Tandon - 2016
It was reduced to dust. Soon I had to admit that there were things far beyond the scope of my rational mind.' What is it that draws one to a mystic? What is it like to know at close quarters a man whose powers are beyond the conscious mind? What does it feel like to be fulfilled spiritually, to feel understood, to stand revealed? As Ismita Tandon and Swami Vidyananda Om explore their feelings for Om Swami, their baffling experiences with him, a secret world of mystical phenomena lights up. They talk about the intimacy of their daily lives with Swami, observing his sheer power, his simplicity, his empathy for every living creature he encounters and the care with which he chooses every word he speaks, no matter how big or small the matter. They speak of his beauty, his divinity. What emerges is a moving portrait of devotion and trust, and the startling image of a saint who was able to inspire such depth of feeling.
Little Book of Inner Peace: Simple practices for less angst, more calm
Ashley Davis Bush - 2017
With practical tools, strategies and exercises harnessing the benefits of mindfulness, meditation, gratitude, creativity, relaxation and compassion, this book will guide you towards your own inner peace and help you to find harmony with those around you: family, friends, your community and the world.CONTENTSIntroduction1. Grounded and Rooted2. Equanimity3. Acceptance4. Gratitude5. Compassion6. Something More7. Towards World PeaceReferencesAcknowledgements
On Writing
Ernest Hemingway - 1984
In his novels and stories, in letters to editors, friends, fellow artists, and critics, in interviews and in commissioned articles on the subject, Hemingway wrote often about writing. And he wrote as well and as incisively about the subject as any writer who ever lived…This book contains Hemingway’s reflections on the nature of the writer and on elements of the writer’s life, including specific and helpful advice to writers on the craft of writing, work habits, and discipline. The Hemingway personality comes through in general wisdom, wit, humor, and insight, and in his insistence on the integrity of the writer and of the profession itself.—From the Preface by Larry W. Phillips
The 24x7 Marriage: Smart Strategies for Good Beginnings
Vijay Nagaswami - 2008
In The 24x7 Marriage he points, with skill and humour, to some popularly posed questions - and their somewhat startling solutions - that couples must ideally address before they affix a date to their wedding invitations...or as soon as possible after. In this witty and inspirational book, the first in a Westland series addressing The New Indian Marriage, psychiatrist Vijay Nagaswami shows you the way to your own answers.
Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy
Dave Hickey - 1997
Air Guitar pioneered a kind of plain-talking in cultural criticism, willingly subjective and always candid and direct. A valuable reading tool for art lovers, neophytes, students and teachers alike, Hickey's book--now in its eighth printing--has galvanized a generation of art lovers, with new takes on Norman Rockwell, Robert Mapplethorpe, Stan Brakhage, Andy Warhol and Perry Mason. In June 2009, Newsweek voted Air Guitar one of the top 50 books that "open a window on the times we live in, whether they deal directly with the issues of today or simply help us see ourselves in new and surprising ways," and described the book as "a seamless blend of criticism, personal history, and a deep appreciation for the sheer nuttiness of American life."Dave Hickey (born 1939) is one of today's most revered and widely read art writers. He has written for Rolling Stone, Art News, Art in America, Artforum and Vanity Fair among many others.
The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley
Eric Weiner - 2016
He explores the history of places, like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley, to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity. And, with his trademark insightful humor, he walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to see if the spirit of what inspired figures like Socrates, Michelangelo, and Leonardo remains. In these places, Weiner asks, “What was in the air, and can we bottle it?”
The New Diary: How to use a journal for self-guidance and expanded creativity
Tristine Rainer - 1978
It has little to do with the rigid daily calendar diary you may have kept as a child or the factual travelogue you wrote to recall the Grand Canyon. Instead, it is a tool for tapping the full power of your inner resources.The New Diary is as much for those who already keep a journal as it is for those who have never kept one. It does not tell you the "right" way to keep a diary; rather, it offers numerous possibilities for using the diary to achieve your own purposes. It is a place for you to clarify goals, visualize the future, and focus your engergies; a means of freeing your intuition and imagination; a workbook for exploring your dreams, your past, and your present life.It is for everyone seeking concrete methods for dealing with personal problems. It is for women and men interested in achieving self-reliance and inner liberation, for artists and writers seeking new techniques for overcoming blocks to creativity.
The Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One
Margaret Lobenstine - 2006
But what about those with a wide array of interests, a dynamic curiosity about the world, and an ever-renewing wellspring of passions? Margaret Lobenstine calls these people “Renaissance Souls,” and in this groundbreaking book, she offers a life-planning strategy in tune with their dynamic, change-loving personalities. Renaissance Souls often get stuck, moving from entry-level job to entry-level job, degree to degree, or hobby to hobby, unwilling to settle on just one thing to do “for the rest of my life.” Or, after achieving success in one field, they yearn for new challenges and begin looking around for something different. Yet they are also afraid that if they pursue their changing interests, they will have to give up on financial security, becoming “a jack of all trades and master of none.”The Renaissance Soul, the first book devoted to this personality type, not only shows that it’s possible to design a successful, vibrant life built on multiple passions, but also gives readers the practical advice to do so. Lobenstine arms the reader with powerful life-design strategies, including how to:*Understand the exciting and powerful difference between choice and focus *Transform your day job so that it carries your dreams forward*Manage your time the Renaissance Soul way*Thrive on many interests without feeling scattered *Get paid for your passions*Learn a new field without going back to school*Get inspired by Renaissance Souls from ancient times to the present, from Leonardo da Vinci to Ben Franklin to Oprah WinfreyStocked with creative exercises, relevant resources, and interviews with successful Renaissance Souls, this profoundly inspiring guide will show readers the way to a richer, more fulfilling life—big enough to embrace all their dreams.
A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
Roger Von Oech - 1973
The book has been stimulating creativity in millions of readers, translated into eleven languages, and used in seminars around the world.Now Roger von Oech's fully illustrated and updated volume is filled with even more provocative puzzles, anecdotes, exercises, metaphors, cartoons, questions, quotations, stories, and tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking. This new edition will attract an entire new generation of readers with updated and mind-stretching material.