Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity by Felicia DayMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
To be honest, this book had me at "Written by Felicia Day," - but in retrospect even if I were unfamiliar with the author, I would be giving it a five-star review. It's a gem, a must-read for anyone in a creative field. Scratch that - it's a must read for anyone.
I chose the audio book, which as an added bonus is read by the author. This medium might make doing the exercises a bit more of a challenge, although a PDF is included to help make this easier. In full disclosure, I skipped most of the exercises, but whether you do the homework or not, you'll get a lot out of this book.
The author's quirky, humorous and charming writing style is as much fun as it was in her autobiography, "You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)." But style is only a small part of what's great about this book.
It's obvious from the first chapter that the author took on this project with one big goal - to help readers find their creative muses. Specifically, to help creators cut through all the little voices that tell us we're not good enough, smart enough, or talented enough to succeed. And in my opinion, she more than succeeded.
It's never easy to open up about your own mistakes, quirks and neuroses. Most of us spend our lives trying to hide those parts of ourselves from others. Instead, the author uses her own experiences as teachable moments for her readers. I admit to shedding a few tears during the section on shame, when she relates what has to be a highly painful personal experience that stuck with her through the years. It hit extremely close to home for someone who has spent way too much time with regret over past actions that everyone else has forgotten. But it was a powerful moment for me. You mean other people obsess over dumb things they did years or decades ago? Even highly successful people with acting and producing careers?
Yes, they do, and the author is not afraid to use her own experiences page after page to give the rest of us hope. She will gently guide you through ways to improve your own creative process while she shares tips on how to deal with shame, regret, and many more 'enemies' of creativity.
If you read one book on creating this year, it should be this one. In fact, if you read one book at all this year, make it this one. Buy it, read it, listen to it, whatever. You won't regret it.
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