Education

I've graduated from college but I've started to put myself through my own education program. I had a lot of things that were recommended to me to read while I was in school but I didn't end up reading most of them. Since I graduated I've had more time on my hands and so I've started making a dent in the list of books and papers that I was told to read over the four years of school. The list is quite a lengthy one. Until recently my reading efforts were nothing that would strain myself, they progressed slowly and without a lot of enthusiasm. I don't recall what changed lately, I suppose perhaps just knowing that I had lots of library books and in the past that I never got to and they just sat on the shelf I decided to launch in. It's a bit like having my own school, with no tests, no homework (other than the reading, obviously) and no GEs that I'm not interested in. I'm getting a lot done and I'm excited about it. It's also really cool because the books that I'm reading, while different and separate from one another, they all seem to be related to one another. I'm really enjoying it and learning a lot.

I just watched this. I've been working on being a better person lately and I've begun to notice that I am changing and for the better, it's really exciting to know that. I've noticed that the change has come as I've worked on trying to always have the spirit with me, to read the lessons for church, to eliminate things that aren't so uplifting, etc. I've been so blessed, I don't know if I'm more blessed lately or just that I've been able to notice the blessings and realize that they're there. I'm really liking the direction my life is going at present.

I finished reading The Luscher Color Test on Saturday and I'm really glad that I did, there was a fair amount in the book that was over my head but what I did understand what quite fascinating. Dr. Luscher's test uses color to better understand a person's personality and any issues or problems they might be having in their lives, I don't know very much about psychiatry etc. but it seemed to me like it worked quite well. I highly recommend this book. This is the first book on the list I made that I've finished.

Also for anyone that likes the show Chuck, the third season started yesterday and episodes are online!

In the months since I graduated from college, I find that some of my belief, enthusiasm and knowledge has slowly drained away. I graduated with a BA in Visual Art feeling very confident that I could and would become a sucessful artist and would make a living off of my art. While I still dreamed of doing this, I allowed myself to be influenced by the unbelief of others. Almost anyone I meet has no great oppinion of the chances of making a living on an art degree; many of these people have urged me to do something else, even before I left school, these people were not out to get me but on the contrary were worried about me. I have found that it might be easier to face people who wish you ill than it is to face those who love you and worry about your well being and I've been caving a little and begun to wonder if perhaps they're right. I've prayed to find out if maybe I really should be doing something else with my life, begining to despair of my dreams but each time the answer has been that art is my path in life.
I had made great plans for myself when I left school, of how my life would be, but I once again forgot that God's ways are not my ways and that he generally has a better plan in store for me than I have for myself, even if it is a longer or harder way that I would have planned for myself. When I was in high school I planned on being a writer, and that as my desired school did not offer a creative writing major I would simply obtain a degree in English with a creative writing emphasis, I also planned that I would minor in art. As my senior year progressed I found that I was miserable in my English class and that my art class was my favorite class and thus switched my major to art and vowed that I'd minor in English instead. The minor never happened and one of my first art teachers changed my life by showing me a whole world that I'd been unaware of previously. The above mentioned art teacher became my mentor and not only taught me to improve my skills and to make art that was real and meaningful and gave me a succinct definition of art (something no other teacher before had been able to give me) but this teacher also gave me hope of making a career out of art and taught me that it was completely possible to support myself by my art. This teacher did not need to teach in order to make his living, like so many other teachers, this teacher drove a porsche.
I was able to take the required class: Business Practices For Artists, from this mentor and he had us read Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. The book tells the tales of many successful people and invites the reader to utilize the book to join those individuals. Now when reading this book for my class I think I must have been less than convinced because I remember that reading it took far longer than it needed to and that I was a bit embarrassed to be reading a book of such a title, although I don't know quite know why, I suppose I didn't want to seem like I was a gopher in a get rich quick scheme or something like that.
I started reading the book again today, I've been praying and fasting for help in my art career and I think the idea to read this book again was a prompting. In musing why the book didn't seem to have worked for me the last time I was reminded of the story of Moses putting a snake on his staff in order to heal people who'd been bitten by the flying, fiery serpents. While looking at a snake on a stick seems like a fairly simple and easy way to get healed, there were people who refused to look upon the snake and died of their bites. I might have been one of those people who refused to look. So I'm reading the book again and I'm going to go for it this time, it certainly can't hurt and it could very well help.

Why I love Amazon:

• Because you can find books that are out of print
• Because you can often find those books gently used for a fraction of their original price ( I've gotten books for a few pennies before...it's more with shipping but still.)
• Because you can find almost any book on amazon

I am a book lover but not one with tons of money to spend on books and I have had some really nice scores on Amazon. I'm really excited because on Saturday my latest Amazon purchase arrived and I am thrilled. I learned about The Luscher Color Test by Dr. Max Luscher, from one of my teachers and decided to read it. The book is out of print but the library had a copy so I got that. The book uses colored cards which punch out and are used with the book, the copy that the library had was missing its cards so I was foiled, not only by that but by other homework, etc. From time to time I've looked on Amazon for a copy in my price range but I worried that I'd end up with a copy without the cards. A week or so ago I browsed again and found a copy that seemed certian to have the cards, it was an acceptable price and so I bought it and waited nervously to find out if the book really did have the cards with it.
It did! I am now excited to take another crack at this book and find out what Dr. Luscher knew.

Reading List

There are so many things that I've been meaning to read and so I thought I'd try to put together a list of them to see the things that I'm still needing to read.

Timaeus by Plato
The Royal Tombs of Egypt by Zahi Hawass
Red Land, Black Land by Barbara Mertz
The Four Color Person by Max Luscher
The Luscher Color Test by Max Luscher
The False Gods We Worship by Spencer W. Kimball
My Life's Review by Benjamin Franklin Johnson
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Jesus the Christ by James Talmage
Approaching Zion by Hugh Nibley
Grimms Fairytales by the brothers Grimm
Hamlet's Mill
Leonardo's Notebooks by Leonardo da Vinci
Introduction to water gilding

There are many more but I think just the ones listed could keep me busy for a long time, years I believe.

Happy New Year

It's 2010. The first day of a new year. It's funny, it always seems that maybe on the first day of the new year or on my birthday that things should feel different, perhaps that I should feel older, but I never do, I still feel like the same person I was before, which really makes a lot of sense. Some things change so gradually that you can't see or feel them happening until you look back to where you started out. I suppose that's why every day is a new beginning, another chance. It's 2010 now and we have yet another chance to improve ourselves so lets make it a good year. Happy New Year!