A Memoir to Forever Illuminate Your Creative Possibility
Find infectious enthusiasm for your content
New in: Your bi-weekly newsletter lengthy thoughts latest dose where you’ll find renewed & infectious enthusiasm for your content with this vivid and descriptive memoir book review of Floor Sample by Julia Cameron along with my rapid film review of Amsterdam, what I’m listening to right now and my next digestible read along with my random one fact which features an, ‘on this day in history,’ nugget.
Some things reach you for a reason. Some things take you on a path that you needed or on a journey of discovery that you hadn’t realised you needed until a book, a comment, an article, a friend or a connection nudges you at seemingly just the right point.
Is it fate? Is it the greater divine or is it just good timing? Whatever the case I think there is absolutely something to be said for letting things unfold and for shifting your ego out of the way when you write.
It’s easier said that done, I know, which is why this review of the wondrous memoir is a discovery I’m glad I made and which found me at the right time to reinvent what I thought and how I thought about writing.
The message wrapped up in Julia’s suggested daily writing of X3 pages in essence is to encourage you to let go of why you can’t write and to forget what your writing needs to be or say and to simply put pen to paper or fingers to laptop keys and type.
Quality of course can be massaged into your work when it’s time to edit and where you can squeeze every last bit of it throughout your content to level up the language, descriptive nature of the piece and your choice of words.
The very nature of this book by far exceeded my expectations and also made me review how I saw life and my writing consultancy business.
When I first started running Simply Amber Lou Writing Consultancy some people didn’t understand what I was doing or even know what it was that I said I was doing which when I started was a copywriter but I would use that and content writer interchangeably now because of the nature of what I tend to do for clients.
This book has given me a renewed sense of motivation (not that I wasn’t motivated before) but it shines a light on the tough nature of freelance work, the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows and the analysis of direction and not squashing your own dreams if you can make it a reality.
I’m glad I stepped away from a consistent role over 5 years ago because if I hadn’t I wouldn’t be writing this now. My only goal at the time was to directly replace what I had been earning previously and each year I’ve grown that income and more.
Sometimes it’s in leaping into what first appears as the unknown that we figure out what we can achieve but also in remembering that nothing arrives in business wrapped up in neat little packages because it’s inevitably full of bumps, challenges, questionable moments and at times self-doubt that quivers on the sidelines, ready to dampen decisions and choices.
Starting your own business is in taking a chance where you see what happens when you map out the new but also with effort and resilience and a solid but flexible plan you can push yourself beyond what, ‘might be’ to what becomes, ‘I did’ and ‘I am doing.’
I haven’t always made the right choices (as many of us haven’t I’m sure) and at times have missed an opportunity to only realise a little too late but in being gifted this wonderful treasure trove of a book from a giveaway set by Emma Gannon on her Substack newsletter called The Hyphen, I now realise how much I needed to read this and how much I have gained from digesting it’s vivid, honest and transparent words.
In my personal view this is one of Julia Cameron’s finest pieces of literary works where she shares moments of: love, loss, letting go, happiness, sadness, success, candid rawness about her struggles with mental health, tumultuous times of heartbreak to staying in the rented, sunny, light & airy loft where Margaux Hemingway died — to resisting the negativity and sometimes toxic drive of others (you’ve earned the right to wear what you choose Julia whatever the occasion ) to the beautiful relationship between her daughter Domenica and herself and the swathes of absolutely brilliant sparks of conscious creativity — always finding a path forward however narrow that inevitably circled back to motivate her art in whatever form — to breathe life into carefully crafted and illustrious creations.
Julia’s career is nothing short of a marvel packed to the rafters of inspiration and full to the brim of exceptional multitudes of talent writing for The Rolling Stone magazine and on Miami Vice and the curious people to whom she has worked with (most notably married to Martin Scorsese whilst also working on The Taxi Driver and New York, New York) and others such as, John Newland and Tim Wheater (who worked with Annie Lennox when he was a part of Eurythmics ) whom she describes as her, “powerful muse”, and her, “fuselighter ” bringing her, ‘creative possibility,’ to hiring Richard Cole the road manager of Led Zeppelin.
This memoir made me deeply reflect upon my reading journey and my approach to writing where sometimes simply just writing even if you never publish your musings becomes a way to creatively unblock and to hone your craft.
It’s reinforced my need to watch out for the unspoken wisdom and effervescent connection of nature to, ‘illuminate ideas’ that feed the soul and that drive curious creative meaning to ensure I remain enthralled about the world that envelopes around us and that inspires the evocative joy of being present and noticing what’s going on around us to relax the mind and to bring about the churning cogs of creative brilliance.
This is one book that I’ll carry forward and that will dazzle its unique sway into each and every creative piece that I craft — if you haven’t read it — you’ll want to because as Julia puts it in her book, ‘enthusiasm is contagious’ and just imagine what content and good you can create with that.
What I’m Reading Now & Next
Now..
Bryony Gordon’s: Let Down Your Hair is said to be a young adult fiction with, ‘a modern twist on a classic tale of one girl’s quest to find a different sort of happy ever after.’ An insight into the life of a teenager with the pressures of school, family, peers and so called friends and one where your hair is seen before you are — what happens though when Barb discovers a bald patch? The story is yet to unravel…
Next..
Ken and Kate Robinson: Imagine If is about creating a future for us all and to reimagine how we can evolve education and schools to suit every learner be it neurotypical or neurodiverse. The late Ken Robinson also made an infamous speech on TED with a title, ‘do schools kill creativity?’ If you haven’t watched it I’d highly recommend this thought provoking talk. You can view the video here.
What I’ve been Listening to & Recommend
Bear Grylls talk on A Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett about not having to be the best but to always do your best and what really matters in driving him in everything he aims to achieve and do.
Gabby Logan on Happy Place with Fearne Cotton shares her fascinating career highlights, the power of cold showers and defying predictions made about her and how her age would dictate how long she’d appear on our screens for.
Film Review of Amsterdam
Quirky and humorous and set in the 1930’s with leads Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington this star studded cast become an inseparable team which is put to the test when they witness a murder and are framed for it — they uncover the ugly truth of the organisation behind it and plan to unmask the powerful figures that attempted to orchestrate it.
Witty and amusing this film unveils the jaw dropping plot based around real American history that before this movie (with much artistic license I’m sure) was released —I had no idea existed.
Random One Bi-Weekly Fact
On this day in history in 1964 Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his peaceful civil rights work.
When We Work Together We Grow Together
I always greatly value you and your thoughts as we grow together as a community — share with me your stories, tales and thinking out loud comments below (questions welcome).
The Copy Shop
For more hacks, Tuesday tell all tales, stories, behind the copy curtain approaches, insights, know-how tips, random facts, inspired recommendations and more creative flare — why not sign up to instantly receive all future newsletter lengthy thoughts where you can share your opinions, copy headaches & business content challenges with me Amber Smith at Simply Amber Lou Business Copywriting Services here in the comments along with what podcasts you’re hungry to listen to at the moment and what you are digesting in terms of reading be that non-fiction or fiction books right now and how they impact you.
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About Simply Amber Lou
Simply Amber Lou business copywriting services was founded by Amber Smith and is the home of business copywriting, content writing, course creation, copy power hours, guided business copy teaching programmes, notebook designs and writing consultancy.
Our aim is to help business leaders to define their online voice and grow their audiences by writing sharp, smart and captivating content with over 20 years of professional business expertise.