Sark (1)

This was my first exposure to SARK's writing, aside from her posters. It was a gift from a former co-worker as I left my job at the San Francisco Public Library. At the time, I didn't feel very gracious about the transition, and so it has taken me a while to finish reading this.

"Glad No Matter What" is primarily a book about the type of loss and change that surrounds the death of a loved one, but I could apply some of it to the loss and change I am currently experiencing as I transition to show more my new home. SARK's unbridled enthusiasm and good nature bursts from every page, and it is difficult not to be cheered by her multicolored scrawls.

My favorite portion of her book was about her "emotional GPS" and how she notices negative thought patterns and reactions as she is having them, then tells herself "recalculating" as she finds a new "emotional route". I chuckled over this, and then gave it some thought. Sometimes I feel very guilty about my negative responses to things while feeling helpless to change them. But with the emotional GPS idea, I can recalculate negative reactions into less negative responses.

I admit to skimming over some parts that were simply too spiritual for my tastes, but I remain an admirer of SARK as a creative force and a positive influence in a cynical world. show less

I read this book without doing the exercises and in my opinion, SARK's books are best experienced by doing the exercises. I'm planning on re-reading it and doing the exercises. She recommends that you actually draw and cut from the book, which I ain't doing because I like my books intact.

Like other SARK books that I have read, it is inspirational, but it was too short and I wanted more. It's more a brief overview of ways to jumpstart your creativity and get inspiration, but it was short on show more actual, practical advice as to how to get from point A (having an idea) to point B (initiating a project and seeing it through to the end). She offers advice on "making a habit of completion," but to me, it was a little fuzzy and New Age-y, such as "I've learned to ask for whatever I want, and trusting that the Universe wants me to have it." (Page 29.) She has been fortunate enough to live a life (I suppose) where that philosophy works for her, but it doesn't work for everybody.

I had trouble suspending my disbelief and buying into the whole "You create your own reality" concept. However, I can see where the exercises in the book would be useful to helping an individual unblock her or his creativity in constructive ways, because they are rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy techniques (questioning why you have the beliefs about yourself that you do and getting to the root cause that spawned those beliefs and working to overcome them, replacing the negative thought patterns with positive thought patterns).

This was SARK's first book, and it offers an overview of her general philosophy. I found "Make Your Creative Dreams Real" to be more helpful when it came to figuring out what I wanted to do, and why the things I was doing weren't working anymore.

Overall, I recommend SARK's books on the creative process. To derive the most benefit from them, I recommend doing the exercises. show less

I have no idea when I bought this book, it was sometime back in the last decade, and it sat on my bookshelf for years, patiently waiting for me to be ready for it. I started reading it a few months ago, when I was stalled in my work as a volunteer. I did some of the exercises in the book. I found the exercise on pg. 163, "Creative Dream Questions," to be very helpful in identifying where I was going with my particular creative dream, which involved the volunteer work I have been doing for show more the past 16 years as a mental health advocate. I also worked in the field as a peer advocate for five years. The exercise, "What if you're stuck with your creative dream?" on pages 196-198 also helped me explore ways of dealing with the feeling of stagnation and being stalled that I've experienced for awhile. In short, this book helped me decide in which direction I need to move.

The book's format follows a calendar year, months 1-12, with a topic of exploration for each month. Each chapter ends with an exercise to do for each week of the month. By exercise, I simply mean that the author gives you something to think about or do (not labor or time intensive) for that week. Each chapter ends with a list of resources, consisting of books, recordings and websites that the reader might find helpful in her or his exploration of creativity.

At the end of the book, there are lists of "Dreamstoppers," (what stops you from living your creative dream?) and "Dreamstarters," (what starts your creative dream?) and questions and answers that people have about living their creative dreams, with answers from SARK.

The book is beautifully written, and the presentation is fabulous, with illustrations by the author. Just looking through the book makes me feel optimistic. I couldn't find any typos or errors in the text, which is a great thing. This book will definitely help you engage with your creative dreams, whatever they may be, and inspire you along your life's path. Highly recommended. show less

I liked it but it duplicates stuff from the journal and playbook. Still, it's S.A.R.K. which means it's fun and uplifting, full of good ideas to bring play back into your life.