How Much Joy Can You Stand? A Creative Guide to Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True

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Why Leap off the Cliff in the First Place? Whether you realize it or not, you and you alone have something unique to create. None of the billions of other people who populate the earth has your particular talents, knowledge, experience, and dreams. This is your birthright--the gift you have been given. Whether it's creating the ultimate bagel, a thriving dry-cleaning business, a lifetime of exquisite tapestries, or a child, you are the only one who carries its blueprints. If you've ever listened to that small, still voice in the dark recesses of your soul, you know this is true. Somewhere in there, the longing to manifest this gift speaks to you on a regular basis; it's that embarrassing dream you keep coming back to, the one that usually feels so hopeless. The purpose of this book is to explore the one thing necessary to move you toward that dream, your own creative process--the steps you must take to turn that dream into reality. Understanding the sometimes-fickle, sometimes- euphoric nature of all this creating is key to making progress. So why does there need to be an entire book about the creative process? Because if you don't know how creativity works, you may never realize any of your dreams, whether they are becoming a fine artist, playing pro ball, or managing a mutual fund. Your creative process informs every decision you make, from conceptualizing, problem solving, and networking to deciding which emotion to express. Creativity is not the lone province of artistic types with dirty fingernails living in picturesque garrets. Rather, the creative process is a lifeblood we all share--a fundamental human property with millions of applications. It is essential to accomplishing anything in life that's uniquely your own; it is the engine that drives your dreams. Unfortunately, there is one small problem. Out there right now, circulating around the atmosphere, is a carload (an eighteen-wheeler load, really) of out-and-out lies about creativity. And if you're trying to pursue any kind of dream, you can't help but get run over by it once in a while. Hopefully, armed with enough information and clarity, you can dodge those madly careening trucks and see your way to the other side. I wrote this book in an attempt to prevent further roadkill. I figure, all the lies surrounding this process have persisted because we're basically a doubting, disbelieving breed. We have to make up whatever thoughts we can to keep us from doing the work of our dreams, and so the myths persist. In nearly twenty years of my own creative work, many of them spent encouraging others to express themselves, I've seen more people cling to more lies that render them absolutely powerless than I ever thought possible. They believe these lies will keep them gloriously afloat, yet such lies are nothing more than leaky life rafts that will only hold them up for a while before giving out entirely. Furthermore, hanging out on a life raft is no substitute for swimming. Whether you admit it or not, that dream of yours isn't going away. Far from it. It will badger you relentlessly until you finally give in and listen. Chances are, your dream has persisted doggedly and continues to chatter at you regardless of how often you shove it aside. Look at how it reappears at odd, restless times like the middle of the night or those first crystal-clear moments of the day--whenever you're unusually lucid and your mind is free of clutter. Its voice carries on year after year, decade after decade, growing fainter at some times and stronger at others, but still refusing to die altogether. It is almost as if we cannot bear these precious, private visions. The very presence of a dream is incredibly threatening, for to take action and actually follow it requires a freedom we think we do not have--not here, not now, not in this secure, comfort-lined world we've constructed to be as seamless and mindless as possible. Pursuing the dre