During our vacation in Chincoteague last week, I finished reading a book that I started a month ago. “The Creative Habit” was highly recommended by a creative blogger who inspires me, but I didn’t think it was all that great. Still, I gleaned some interesting quotes from the book that I wanted to share with you.

“Skill gives you the wherewithal to execute whatever occurs to you. Without it, you are just a font of unfulfilled ideas. Skill is how you close the gap between what you can see in your mind’s eye and what you can produce.”

“Too many people practice what they’re already good at and neglect the skills that need more work.”

“I cannot overstate how much a generous spirit contributes to good luck. Look at the luckiest people around you, the ones you envy, the ones who seem to have destiny falling habitually into their laps. What are they doing that singles them out? It isn’t dumb luck if it happens repeatedly. If they’re anything like the fortunate people I know, they’re prepared, they’re always working at their craft, they’re alert, they involve their friends in their work, and they tend to make others feel lucky to be around them.”

“A rut is the consequence of sticking to tried and tested methods that don’t take into account how you or the world has changed.”

“We get into ruts when we run with the first idea that pops into our head, not the last one.”

{all quotes are from “The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life” by Twyla Tharp}

I usually use an index card as a bookmark so I can scribble down the page number and a few words that really stand out to me as I read so I can go back later and write down the whole sentence or paragraph. I recently read “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything” by Ken Robinson, and these are some of the sections I wanted to remember and revisit.

“Imagination is not the same as creativity. Creativity takes the process of imagination to another level. My definition of creativity is ‘the process of having original ideas that have value.’ Imagination can be entirely internal. You could be imaginative all day long without anyone noticing. But you would never say that someone was creative if that person never did anything. To be creative you actually have to do something. It involves putting your imagination to work to make something new, to come up with new solutions to problems, even to think of new problems or questions. You can think of creativity as applied imagination.”

“Creativity involves several different processes that wind through each other. The first is generating new ideas, imagining different possibilities, considering alternative options. . . . The creative process also involves developing these ideas by judging which work best or feel right. . . . Overall, creative work is a delicate balance between generating ideas and sifting and refining them.”

“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

“What we think of ourselves and of the world makes us who we are and what we can be.”

—

Perhaps these words captured my attention because I do more imagining than creating, even though I’m always more energized by creating than imagining. The internet provides endless inspiration and makes it easy for me to spend lots of time imagining, so I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head. But of course it’s only when I put those ideas into action that I actually create something. I think it’s fair to say that I’ve stockpiled plenty of inspiration and possibilities. Now it’s time to put my imagination to work.

What about you? Do you find yourself spending more time thinking rather than doing? What have you been imagining recently? I’d love to hear your ideas.

I know a book is a short, easy read when I start and finish the book in the same day AND reading is not the only thing I did that day. That day was today, and the book was “Just Checking: Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive” by Emily Colas.

Written by a woman with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, “Just Checking” is full of stories of how OCD manifested itself in her life and marriage. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and tells these short vignettes in an engaging, entertaining way. I bought the book last month at a used book sale at the Indian Valley Public Library, and since it was bag day and I bought 22 books for two bucks, it basically cost me about 10 cents. The book was enjoyable and even humorous, but given the topic, it was also kind of stressful, so I’m glad it didn’t take me long to read it!

Here are a few sentences that stood out to me that I jotted down as I read:

• “I possess an endless capacity to keep a worry alive.” (pg. 33)
• “When I can’t handle the world, I clean it.” (pg. 89)
• “But the startling realization I made as I was coming to my senses [via medication] was that life’s kind of a drag. There didn’t seem to be much to it. And my rituals had been a nice diversion.” (pg. 138)

Last night at a half hour ’til midnight, I finished reading “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon. It was one of the most unusual books I’ve read, but it was a quick read and hard to put down.

The curious incident at the heart of the story was laid out within the first six lines of the book:

“It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears’s house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.”

Don’t worry — that’s as gory as it gets. The story of the dead dog, Wellington, is told by Christopher John Francis Boone, an autistic fifteen-year-old whose mind works in incredibly fascinating ways. Christopher leaves no details untold as he describes his quest to figure out who killed his neighbor’s dog… and discovers some surprises along the way.

When I read books, I often jot down some lines that stand out to me. Here are a few words that caught my attention.

• “I like it when it rains hard. It sounds like white noise everywhere, which is like silence but not empty.” (pg. 103)
• “And then I had to work out what to do. And I did this by thinking of all the things I could do and deciding whether they were the right decision or not.” (pg. 129)
• “So I started walking, but Siobhan said I didn’t have to describe everything that happens, I just have to describe the things that were interesting.” (pg. 189) {Of course, the next ten lines were a big run-on sentence with completely unnecessary and highly detailed information.}

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” was one of the five bestsellers I happened to buy at a used book sale back in October, and so far, I’ve read four of the five books (as well as six other books during that time). But I’ve been buying books faster than I can read them, so I have plenty of other books on my shelf to choose from next. And… there’s another book sale today!

This morning I paid two dollars for twenty-two books.

Our local library often has used book sales, and today’s was a bag sale, which means that I could stuff a plastic shopping bag full of books and pay only two bucks for the whole thing. I came away with 22 books, and my bag wasn’t even completely full.

Ten of the books were children’s books, but the other twelve were not. Here is the stack I’m most excited about.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom – The author shares life lessons he learned from his former professor who is dying. I feel like the only person who hasn’t read this.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer – I read part of this at Barnes and Noble several years ago, and have been wanting to read the whole thing ever since. It’s the story of a well-to-do young man who hitchhiked to Alaska and died of starvation in the wilderness.

Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott – I’ve never read anything by Anne Lamott, but every time I read or hear a quote by her, I want to read her books.

Girl Meets God by Lauren F. Winner – I’ve actually already read this book, but I wanted to own it. I’ve heard her speak before, and also own another of her books, and she’s just as compelling in person as she is in writing. From the back cover: “The child of a Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, Lauren F. winner chose to become an Orthodox Jew. But even as she was observing Sabbath rituals and studying Jewish law, Lauren was increasingly drawn to Christianity. Courageously leaving what she loved, she eventually converted. In Girl Meets God, this appealing woman takes us through a year in her Christian life as she attempts to reconcile both sides of her religious identity.”

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows – I know absolutely nothing about this book except that someone recommended it to me once upon a time. (Katie, was it you?) So, from the back cover again: “January 1946: Writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.”

Perplexing Lateral Thinking Puzzles by Paul Sloane & Des MacHale – A short description of a scenario is provided, and you have to figure out how to explain the missing details.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell – What’s worse than buying a book you’ve already read? Buying a book you already own! And I even knew that we already have it. I guess that shows just how much of a fan of Malcolm Gladwell I am. “The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.” You’re welcome to borrow it; we have a spare copy.

Just Checking: Scenes from the Life of an Obsessive-Compulsive by Emily Colas – I just thought the title sounded interesting. When you’re shoving books in a bag for two bucks, the books start to feel like they’re free.

Marry Me! Courtships and Proposals of Legendary Couples by Wendy Goldberg and Betty Goodwin – The book tells the stories of 35 couples, including Martha Bernays & Sigmund Freud, Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz, Coretta Scott & Martin Luther King, Jr., Lisa Halaby & King Hussein I of Jordan, Hillary Rodham & Bill Clinton, and many others.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin – I followed the author’s blog for a short time several years ago while she was writing the book. Happiness seemed to be so unnatural for her, and she had to work so hard at being happy that she seemed stressed out by the pursuit of simple happiness. I didn’t find it inspiring at all, and stopped reading her blog. But recently I’ve happened to see a surprising number of positive responses to the book on the internet, so I thought I’d read at least some of it. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Food Made Fast: Weeknight by Williams-Sonoma – I don’t really need another cookbook, but I collect them like some people collect new music or whatever else inspires them. Lime shrimp with coconut rice? Yes, please.

Real Simple Solutions from the editors of Real Simple – Eye candy plus good ideas.

All that plus ten children’s books (including the pop-up book Dinner Time by Jan Pienkowski) for TWO BUCKS!