Ilene Segalove

Explode routine. Liberate mojo. Transform a rut into a groove. For those who want to burst out of the tried and true to live and work more daringly, creatively and deeply, Snap Out of It offers 101 snappy ways readers can get their creative groove back.

Artist Ilene Segalove shows how simply exploring the realm of our senses can unleash undreamed of creative powers from the chains of habit and routine. Snap Out of It "snaps" us back into paying attention to our lives by using our senses to show more get at a deeper, more exciting reality.

In addition to longer, more involved sensory activities, Segalove offers "Quick Snaps" that anyone can do on the fly to shake things up a little, including: Pound your fists on your chest and do an earpopping Tarzan call of the wild. Or, lightly click your teeth together for one full minute. show less

This book, if used thoughtfully and with the right intent could take months (perhaps even years) to complete!
I don't really know what I was expecting when I requested this book...but I saw it on Amazon and thought it "what a neat idea" -- my mind rushing with possibilities based on nothing more than the title and brief editorial description! When the book arrived at my door...I practically ravaged the packaging to get at the books (normally, I am excitable when it come to books...and I got show more all three in this List Yourself series: List Yourself; More List Yourself; and List Your Creative Self). Now I knew this was a book for you to fill in, but I was still surprised to find that after two very brief chapters (an introduction and "How to Use this Book") that it is virtually empty...most of the pages (14-297) are list topics. That is to say the very top portion of the page (about two lines worth) is a List Topic, the remainder of the page is blank lines to be filled in...allowing you to do exactly what the title says...List Yourself!

I found that the brief first chapters actually are more than adequate, this will be particularly appealing to individuals who do not have the patience for long-winded explanations or tons of in-depth analysis of this technique...there is just enough good information to get you going -- with a simple, easy "how to" your on your way to listing!

What is great about List Yourself is that it is not all "serious" or "proper," not all probing and full of angst...this book has lists that will help you capture ALL of who you are...even the funny and irreverent!!

Serious topics include:

"List All the People You Wish You Hadn't Trusted"
"List What Heals Your Aching Soul"
"List those Moments in Nature that Remind You of Your Connection to the 'Big Picture'."

Silly Topics Include:

"List All the Times You've Hit the Jackpot"
"List All the Foods, Candy, and Other Treats You Loved to Snack On" (as a child)
"List All the Foods You'd Eat if Guaranteed You Wouldn't Get Fat" (I must be hungry...lol)

and it goes on and on on for more than two hundred pages...there are lists about the past, the future....allowing you to explore EVERY aspect of who you are...from home and family to career; covering entertainment, your inner most thoughts to the funny and irreverent in your life! THIS is NOT your mother's journal! What you get here really allows you to capture who you are in a relatively easy to use listmaking format!

I truly believe the best use of this volume is for the time challenged journaler (or potential journaler)...you can keep this by your bed or near your favorite spot on the couch -- list yourself when your restless at night or when there's nothing very interesting on TV...keep it handy and out in the open and I can almost GUARANTEE you'll find yourself picking it up every now and again -- it's compelling in a way!

For the more "serious" journaler...List Yourself would certainly make a fun addition to your current journaling -- or a supplement if you like! The materials and methods certainly dovetail nicely into nearly any journaling style!

Upon completion, List Yourself will certainly be interesting to read over every few years...a gauge of who you were, who you are, and who you will be in the future!!

Sooooooooo...do I recommend List Yourself???? The answer is an definite YES! I most certainly do! As a supplement to "regular" journaling or as a stand-alone technique used for self-discovery -- I think it's invaluable!!

Do I absolutely LOVE everything about this volume...HECK NO...the hard bound format is annoying at best (my comments were less than "G" rated in this area...lol)...and size make this book hard to handle. Personally...for books I have to write in, I like a slightly larger size and this book would be MUCH better served with a spiral or library binding...the combination of size and binding choice are (to me at any rate) extremely annoying. I would also absolutely LOVE it if a date line had been included...it's certainly not difficult to simply add the date in at the top...but for neatness and uniformity -- a printed date line would be a nice addition!!

For myself (because of the format the book is in), I'm going to incorporate the lists into my regular journal -- recording only the date(s) that I make the list in the hardbound book...so that I can easily find a particular list later on...and if I do a list several times over the years...I'll know where to find each to compare and contrast them!!

Overall, this is a neat idea -- and the book DOES live up to the entire title! I give it an "A"+ for content and a "B"- for usability - the hardbound format does leave much to be desired.

I give list yourself an "A"- for price, coming in at 296 pages of great listmaking opportunities with a list price of $14.95 (Amazon currently has it listed at $10.47), I think it's money well spent!! show less

Ok...Listmaking as "the" way to Personal Discovery??? Maybe not "the" way...but definitely a very easy, useful and potentially fun way to explore yourself!! At one point in the short introductory chapter the authors say:
"It gives you the chance to address the breadth and depth of your life experience in a playful and profound act of self-awareness and mastery."

I had never had really thought of listmaking in this way...even though I HAVE read and used the first book in the "set..." I've show more always thought of list making as a tool...but not as playful or profound...and now that I think about it, I'd have to agree that it IS...so I find that I really am pleased with this volume!! The authors go on to say:

"Why not start listing and give ourselves the opportunity of becoming more aware of what makes us tick, our values, our dreams, what's important and what's not? More List Yourself allows you to do just that. More than 257 list questions invite you to open your eyes, mind, and heart to deeper levels of self-discovery. It gives you the keys to power to break down the barriers that keep you from living the life you want to live."

I think this is true of most journaling practices...what is different in this volume is that you have a definite format and lots of prompts to explore ALL areas of your life...not just the ones that you are comfortable with...if explored and used with the right attitude, List Yourself will provide you with (at the very least) months of fun, thought provoking, explorative opportunities!!

This book, like the one before it, provides us with a LOT of opportunities...there is even a whole section with fun computer/internet related list opportunities (I know I've been enjoying these a great deal...as I've found the internet has become an integral part of my everyday life!!

Listing "focus areas" include:

Day to Day
Your Style
Big Wisdom
Me.Com
Us
Culture Club
Sixth Sense
MMMMoney (no I'm not misspelling this)
Favorite Things
Happy, Healthy, and Wise
Your Nest
Fun, Fantasy, and Adventure

Where the first book (the original List Yourself) had two short introductory chapters...this book has one (and it's even shorter). The "how to" part of this is basically a sub-section of this chapter and is about 1.5 pages in length. AND as with the original...don't let this fool you, there is more than enough info to allow you to comfortably get started with this process...though I must be honest, I had my reservations about this, as I causally flipped through it after reading over the info in the original, including each of the list topics and trying out a few of the lists...but afterward, when actually read the info provided, I came up with the conclusion above...your not going to come away from this chapter with any profound information...but it's good for what it is...a brief introduction to get you going right away!!

I have to say that I agree with the authors...this books does "...dish up list challenges that encourage you to reconnect with your intuition" -- if you allow it to, this volume could have a very powerful and profound effect on how you look at yourself all the while having FUN doing it!!

I highly recommend List Yourself AND More List Yourself -- both complement each other and there are relatively few duplications in list topics (I was surprised too)! I have the same reservations and dislikes about More List yourself as I did with the original...the hard bound format is annoying at best (my comments were less than "G" rated in this area...lol)...and size makes this book hard to handle. Personally...for books I have to write in, I like a slightly larger size and this book would be MUCH better served with a spiral or library binding...the combination of size and binding choice are (to me at any rate) extremely annoying. I would also absolutely LOVE it if a date line had been included...it's certainly not difficult to simply add the date in at the top...but for neatness and uniformity -- a printed date line would be a nice addition!!

For myself (because of the format the book is in), I'm going to incorporate the lists into my regular journal -- recording only the date(s) that I make the list in the hardbound book...so that I can easily find a particular list later on...and if I do a list several times over the years...I'll know where to find each to compare and contrast them!!

And yes...that is the very same info from my review of List Yourself...but it applies equally to this volume...they have exactly the same binding and are exactly the same size...I can only hope that if these are reprinted in the future, these two features will be changed to make it even more appealing!!

I give More List Yourself an A for content and a B- for usability (hardcover and size are still an issue in my opinion).

I give it the very same A- for price...it's exactly the same as List Yourself ($14.95 list price) with a current list price of $10.47 on Amazon -- coming in at 289 pages...this is well worth the money for the amount of usability and the fun factor involved!!

I belive that this best use of this book is for the "time challenged" journaler...but I DO strongly feel that it is a fun and exciting resource for even the most experienced journaler!! I'd even go so far as to recommend getting all three in this series: List Yourself; More List Yourself, and List Your Creative Self...and use them together...keep them by your bed (for restless nights) or near your favorite spot on the couch (for when there's nothing "good" to watch)...and I can almost guarantee that you'll pick one of them up and find a list that fills a need in your life right now!! show less

Very disappointing: Most of the list prompts I looked at do not lend themselves to very long lists (nicknames I've had?) and some were just dumb (ways the full moon affects me?). I found the topical grouping to be somewhat arbitrary. In short, I returned this book and have decided to rely on the many list prompts in other journaling and self-help books.