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When my friend Vanessa makes a book suggestion it’s one to follow! So far The Alchemist is turning out to be a very poignant and powerful fable. At the core is a message about following you “Personal Legend” and the ups and downs that come along with it. I’m not done yet, so I’m not able to speak too much about it, but I’m so enthralled by it, that I had to share it with the world.

Some 600 or so pages, some laughing and crying, I’m done the newest installment of Harry Potter. I’m starting to think that there is some sort of addiction there. I actually used up some bank time at work, so I could go home early to finish it…is that a problem? I guess the problem would be if I didn’t even call into work and just stayed home.

Part of the homework from The Chrysalis is that we are to come up with 10 things that resonate and encourage our creativity and then do 3. The timing for the new book was almost kismet because 1 down and 2 to go. Sure, I’m haven’t quite figured out what they are…I’ve still got 9 things besides reading to come up with…but, when I do, I’ll do 2 of them and homework done. i’ve only got, what, 3 days left to do them?

Yes, I’m one of the billions hooked on Harry Potter. And unlike those pretentious people who buy the “adult” cover books, I’m not afraid to admit it. When I first saw the photographic like covers on the shelves I was slightly disturbed. Isn’t there a phrase…hmm…let me think. It’s something about judging…and covers. I think this is very appropriate because it also has something to do with books. Now what was that phrase? Oh anyway, I’m once again delving my attention into J.K. Rowlings’ world.

It’s funny really. I seem to have a very select handful of topics that I can actually read through without falling asleep: quantum physics, leadership and harry potter. Yeah…it baffles me too.

Once in a while when people ask me how things are going, I answer, “I’m fighting.” They often wonder what. I tell them it’s a battle. That I’m not exactly sure who the monster is or the demons in the war, but that regardless of my surrounding, it’s a battlefield.

I think this afternoon I got some insight into this battle, maybe even a weapon or two. I can now put some faces to my enemy, they all look like me. Steven Pressfield’s, the War of Art, is a blunt kick in the ass as to show who the real demons are. It’s a refreshing word as to the importance and necessity of persistence to our visions and our true selves.

It’s definitely got my brain turning and racing as I look around and see evidence of my losses. As I’m getting closer and closer to the real me, the Resistance ( yes, that’s a capital R) against me, is also increasing. I just need to keep in check with it. I need to look it in the face and keep paddling through it. I need to keep at it regardless of the surroundings. I need to do it, even if I was the last person on earth.

One of my personal battles is with scheduling, as you’ve seen in my previous posts. Yet there was a passage that got me thinking.

Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” He replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

It makes me question. Maybe it wasn’t that my passion was being killed by the calendar, but as I got closer to what I needed to do, Resistance was fighting harder. I justified and rationalized this whole thing out of the picture. I looked again at the list of Needs, Talents, Passion and Purpose. And there it was, completely over looked: Sharing, Creating Community.

I know I haven’t spelled out too much of what I’m trying to do in my posts, but essentially it’s an online event calendar. It’s sharing with others information about what’s going on. And in essence creating communities. So how is it that what I’m building isn’t in that?

Those damn sirens of the sea! Causing hallucinations and madness. And they would have gotten away with it if it were for that darn book!

I finished Blink , and I found it enthralling. I just couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in finding out more on how we all tick.

In it, there is a site address to take your own Implicit Association Test (IAT). This test is a nice understanding of the unconscious decisions and feelings locked away. It’s pretty cool, mind you I’ve taken a bunch and I keep coming back inconclusive. What does that mean?

Well, this morning I had a chance to catch up on some blog reading. When you’ve got so many subscribed, it’s easy for the unread ones to pile up. And this morning it seemed that every post I was reading had some mention to a novel: Blink. So I used it as a sign and went out to purchase it. And I’m glad I did. I’m half way through already, and it’s a page turner into the unconscious mind. And now posts like Tom Peter’s “Eye Sparkle Factor” make so much sense.