This Book Is About…
This book is about mindfulness and creative expression.
This book is about spiritual growth and Buddhist teachings.
This book is about economic well-being and being successful as a creative.
Wow! This is amazing as these are things I think about a lot so I decided to buy the book.
The author, David Nichtern, is a professional musician, a practicing Buddhist and is financially successful so he has a great deal of experience in these areas and guides the reader in how he is doing it and how you can, too.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness can be helpful and brings your attention back to center, which is where you want to be. In other words, learning to be mindful of your thoughts and emotions can help you cultivate calmness, clarity and focus. “If your mind is a runaway train, your life will be a runaway life.”
Meditation is a practice and there is no right or wrong way. When you notice that your thoughts and emotions are all over the place you simply watch your breathing – no judging. It’s like learning to paint. Practice, practice, practice everyday until forever.
Core Principles
“As it is” and “up to you” are two themes threaded throughout the book. As it is, not as you wish it was, not as you think it is and not as it appears. Up to you is how we see ourselves, what we aspire to and what we achieve, or it’s up to you, you get to choose.
The author asks these thought-provoking questions: How do I make a living doing what I love? How do I integrate my spiritual life with the art of running a business? How do I run a business? He says it is a self-discovery process and your personal evolution.
So this book is about how to be a successful creative. That’s a deep subject because there are so many different definitions of what is means to be successful. One of the most common is that it relates to prosperity and how much money you have. But the author has another description. He says that success is being whole and balanced through awareness and meditation.
What does success mean to me? Success is about moving toward the light, uplifting my energy and training my mind in the development of clarity, focus and possibility. And, yes, I am a minute-by-minute work in progress.
What does success mean to you?