I’m so excited today to do my first giveaway! Hopefully you are equally excited to hear about it. As you can probably guess from the picture above, there will be 3 winners and each person will get a copy of one of the three books pictured as their prize.
Why These Books?
As Pablo Picasso said, “art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” I’ve come to believe that living a good life is much more of an art, than an exact science, and more than others I’ve read over the past year these books have influenced the way I think and helped me to blow the dust off my life.
1) The Art of Nonconformity is a reminder to think for yourself about how you live, work and travel instead of simply following the crowd, and it provides some actionable ideas about how to do just that. And, the book is even signed by the author Chris Guillebeau from his visit to Dallas!
“At some point, though, we each have to take responsibility for ourselves even if no one ever taught us to think about what we want. The lack of understanding and self-awareness harms us more than anyone else. It holds us back from greatness and keeps us living unremarkable lives. To break out of the sleepwalking pattern, we have to define what we want and then find a way to make it happen.”
2) The Art of Possibility is the book I wish I could have written. It outlines 12 simple practices – like “It’s All Invented,” “Leading from Any Chair,” and my favorite “Rule Number 6” – using metaphors and stories along the way. It reads almost like a collection of fables. While the practices are simple and easily remembered, they’re not necessarily easy.
“Our premise is that many of the circumstances that seem to block us in our daily lives may only appear to do so based on a framework of assumptions we carry with us. Draw a different frame around the same set of circumstances and new pathways come into view. Find the right framework and extraordinary accomplishment becomes an everyday experience.”
The book uses “the metaphor of music, and relies on all the arts. Art, after all, is about rearranging us, creating surprising juxtapositions, emotional openings, startling presences, flight paths to the eternal.” I’m certain Picasso would agree.
3) The Art of Travel is an introspective investigation of our journeys – why we travel and how we could do it a little better – with a dose of dry British humor for good measure.
“Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains. There is an almost quaint correlation between what is before our eyes and the thoughts we are able to have in our heads…”
“There is psychological pleasure in [a plane’s] takeoff, too, for the swiftness of the plane’s ascent is an exemplary symbol of transformation. The display of power can inspire us to imagine analogous, decisive shifts in our own lives, to imagine that we, too, might one day surge above much that now looms over us.”
Note: I probably have a higher threshold than most for intellectual/academic, non-fiction books. Please, don’t worry! These books are not like that. Each of these books is smart, but also very readable. Also, affliate links included above.
How to Enter
Just leave a comment by Wednesday, December 15th at 10PM CST, and 3 winners will be chosen randomly from the comments.
What are you waiting for? Enter today!
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12/16/2010: I’ve decided to change the rules a little bit, and thankfully since it’s my blog, I can do that! The books are too good not to share with everyone who expressed an interest and a comment. So, the official winners are: Catherine, Bill & Jennifer!!
But, I will also follow up with each of you by email to ensure that one of these wonderful books arrives on your doorstep in time for Christmas! Thanks for reading. I love coming here to write and talk with you about things that matter.
