Teresa R. Funke's Blog: Bursts of Brilliance for a Creative Life, page 29

Fortune Favors the Bold

I read in an article in National Geographic that at age 12, Steve Jobs “cold-called Bill Hewlett (CEO of Hewlett Packard) to ask if he had any extra parts for a frequency counter Jobs wanted to build. Hewlett offered him a summer job.” There’s an old proverb, Fortune favors the bold, and apparently Fortune doesn’t care if you are “only a child.” Think of Malala, think of Helen Keller...

Source

Do You Even Have an Inner Artist?

When people ask what my blog is about, I often say it’s an inspirational blog to help people tap into and support their inner artist. “Oh, that’s not for me,” some reply. “I’m not creative. And I’m certainly not an artist.” I’m always a little surprised by that response. It makes me realize somewhere down the line we all formed opinions of what a creative person is. Mostly, we think of creative...

Source

Working in Sunshine

I was an “indoorsy” kid, as comedian Jim Gaffigan would say. My idea of a relaxing Saturday was sleeping in late, eating a big breakfast, reading my book, and then watching back-to-back showings of classic movies on one of our four channels. My mother would often push me outside and tell me to stay there. Sometimes I’d knock on doors, looking for someone to play with, other times I’d just sit on...

Source

Pay It Forward

When my daughter was in college, we took her and her childhood friend to lunch. At the end of the meal, we grabbed the check. Her friend offered to pay for his food, but we told him not to worry about it. We knew his funds were low. He said he didn’t feel right about that, and I said, “Look, you’re in college, you have a job to do. You focus on that, and let us worry about this.

Source

A Little Patience Goes a Long Way

Layli Long Soldier is an Oglala Lakota poet, writer, and artist. In an On Being interview with Long Soldier, she said, “Writing has shown me what happens with patience.” Oh wow, I thought. That’s an understatement! I don’t consider myself a terribly patient person. I’m an activator, someone who wants things to happen now, someone who wants to see quick results from my efforts and receive speedy...

Source

Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

It occurred to me the other day: If I’d been more focused all these years, I could have written 20 books, not just 8. If I’d been more organized, I might not have let so many potential prospects slip away. If I’d been more structured, I might have launched more of those great ideas I’ve had. If I’d been more diligent, I might have earned more money. If I’d kept my nose to the grindstone more...

Source

We Only Change When We Want To

We were night owls in my family, my mom, my brother, and me. Getting up early for school and work was challenging. So, my mom started a contest. If we did not hit our snooze alarms, but just got up, we could put a tally mark beside our name. Whoever did that consistently for 30 days got a prize. I won every time. I had the will power (though it was hard) to not hit the snooze button every day for...

Source

How Not to Help an Artist

I read an interesting article recently about how men talk to women entrepreneurs about their new projects or businesses. They tend to issue warnings about pitfalls and to caution the women, as if they’re not aware of the challenges and don’t know what they’re doing. Women, on the other hand, tend to give the speaker the benefit of the doubt, and jump in to offer brainstorming...

Source

You Really Like Me

Sally Field will never live down that speech at the 1985 Academy Awards when she won Best Actress and pronounced, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me.” It’s got to be one of the most cringe-worthy moments in television history. Honestly, though, part of the reason we all felt so uncomfortable during her speech was that she was giving voice to our shadow selves who cling...

Source

You Like Me, You Really Like Me

Sally Field will never live down that speech at the 1985 Academy Awards when she won Best Actress and pronounced, “I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me.” It’s got to be one of the most cringe-worthy moments in television history. Honestly, though, part of the reason we all felt so uncomfortable during her speech was that she was giving voice to our shadow selves who cling...

Source