Art of Life Handbook: Introduction and Table of Contents

Introduction. Without intending to, I have written a how-to book of sorts. The how-to is how to be my most authentic me — and, perhaps, how to find that for yourself too. You could say I’ve been working on this book my entire life, but as the oldest post in the book dates to 2007, we’ll say I started then.

I remember around that time I lamented to a friend, “They always say, ‘follow your dream’ and ‘be yourself,’ but what if you don’t know what that is or who you are? What are you supposed to do in the meantime?” This book is both an answer to this question, and a chronicle of what I learned “in the meantime.” I don’t claim to know everything — or anything! — except that this is the book I wish I’d had then, and earlier.

Although I am an artist and much of the book’s content speaks to that, it’s not aimed at artists exclusively. After all, each of us creates at least one major work: our own lives, of which we are the architect, the guide, and the dreamer. That’s why it’s called the Art of Life Handbook.

Since most of these “chapters” are actually posts from this blog and my earlier LiveJournal, they stand alone and don’t always flow smoothly into one another. Someday I’ll rewrite them for cohesiveness, and maybe even include exercises or prompts… but when that happens, this really will be a book, and I’ll have to start thinking of getting it published and all that. I’m not feeling up to that quite yet, so in the meantime, please pardon the exposed beams and construction dust.

Table of Contents

  1. Family tree: on the basic handbook and its heritage
  2. Who cares what they think?: on becoming internally, not externally, motivated
  3. Uncertainty is your friend: on cultivating a beginner’s mind
  4. Body of work: on charting your own path
  5. Guided by the imagination: on dreaming big and bigger [forthcoming!]
  6. Physical wisdom: on trusting your body
  7. Balancing act: on managing your time
  8. Can’t make omelets without breaking eggs: on accepting discomfort
  9. Calm down: on happiness and freedom from stress
  10. Don’t believe your own hype: on letting go of praise
  11. Resources
  12. About the author