Find Your Unicorn Space: Reclaim Your Creative Life in a Too-Busy World - Hardcover

Rodsky, Eve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593328019 ISBN 13: 9780593328019

Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2021

Inhaltsangabe

From the New York Times bestselling author of Fair Play comes an inspirational guide for setting new personal goals, rediscovering your interests, cultivating creativity, and reclaiming your Unicorn Space.

With her acclaimed New York Times bestseller (and Reese’s Book Club pick) Fair Play, Eve Rodsky began a national conversation about greater equality on the home front. But she soon realized that even when the domestic workload becomes more balanced, people still report something missing in their lives—that is, unless they create and prioritize time for activities that not only fill their calendars but also unleash their creativity.  
 
Rodsky calls this vital time Unicorn Space—the active and open pursuit of creative self-expression in any form that makes you uniquely YOU. To help readers embrace all the unlikely, surprising, and delightful places where their own Unicorn Space may be found, she speaks with trail blazers, thought leaders, academics, and countless real people who have discovered theirs everywhere—from activism to artistic endeavors to second careers.
 
Rodsky reveals what researchers already know: Creativity is not optional. It’s essential. Though most of us do need to remind ourselves how (and where) to find it. With her trademark mix of research based, how-to advice and big-picture inspirational thinking, Rodsky shows you a clear path to reclaim your permission to have fun, manifest your own Unicorn Space in an already too-busy life, and unleash your special gifts and undiscovered talents into the world.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Eve Rodsky received her B.A. from the University of Michigan, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. After working in foundation management at J.P. Morgan, she founded the Philanthropy Advisory Group to advise families and charitable foundations on best practices. Rodsky was raised by a single mom in New York City and now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their three children.

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1

Unleash Your Unicorn

Embracing the Power of "the Pause" to Commit to Creativity

Consider: The Case of the Bad Tinder Date

I was visiting my cousin Jessica at Stanz Cafe in Larchmont, New York. As we were digging into a shared plate of avocado toast, the conversation turned toward her new dating life.

"I've started swiping right," she admitted.

"Really?" I said with a near mouthful. "You're ready, then?"

Jessica's life took an unexpected turn when her husband had a catastrophic stroke at the age of thirty-seven. After Jessica served as caretaker to her husband for seven years to reach a full recovery, while also juggling the needs of their two young kids single-handedly and working a full-time job, their marriage ultimately dissolved, albeit amicably.

"It's been a year since the divorce," said Jessica, "and I'm proud of myself for all I've been able to do on my own, but
truthfully"-she paused-"I don't want to keep doing it all alone. So, yeah, I think I'm ready." She nodded assuredly.

"Okay, then," I encouraged, "show me who's made the cut."

Jessica took out her phone, tapped on the Tinder app, and scrolled until she landed on Andy. "Read his profile," she said, handing me her phone.

Andy had a clean yet intentionally disheveled kind of mountain man look. His smile appeared genuine, and his interests were listed as follows: adventure, travel, and cooking.

"He sounds amazing," I enthused. "He lists 'adventure' as one of his top values. That's totally you." When we were younger, I'd nicknamed my cousin Jessica "Adventure" Cohen, because she didn't have a given middle name and because she saved all of her waitressing tip money to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, explore Machu Picchu, and visit the Choeung Ek memorial in Cambodia.

"Was totally me," Jessica corrected.

"And look at this," I continued. "His favorite quote is your favorite quote: Vivian Greene's 'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.' I mean, c'mon, the guy loves adventure and inspirational quotes?"

Jessica sighed and leaned in. "I know, but we already went on one date, and it's not going to work out."

"Oh my God. Tell me," I said a little too loudly, attracting the attention of the full table next to ours.

"Well," she confided, "it was a sort of disaster. Ten minutes into our dinner, he asks me, 'What do you do for fun?' Can you imagine?" Jessica rolled her eyes.

I clearly felt her exasperation but didn't similarly share it. Why was his question so offensive to her? I challenged: "What's wrong with a little fun?"

Her eyes widened. "Who past the age of twenty asks that question? Really, who has time for fun when you're raising kids and juggling a career and taking the dogs to the freaking vet? I had no 'fun' answer for him, so I ended the date early."

I well understood the challenge she was describing, as a working mother with tiny humans underfoot in my own home. Still, fun is not exclusively reserved for Gen Z. Or single people without jobs or pets. Is it?

"Jessica . . ." I straightened and said in my firm but loving voice, "you of all people deserve to rediscover what brings you joy, and you must make time for it."

She gave me the finger and handed me the bill.

***

On the flight back to Los Angeles, I gave the Case of the Bad Tinder Date some thought. Andy's "what do you do for fun" approach to life seemed like the right antidote for Jessica's malaise. She could definitely use some fun, some time and space for herself. A new adventure. A little less responsibility. A little more joy. How could I help her?

Without a clear answer, I spent the next hour occupying myself by clicking on random YouTube videos. And that's when I discovered Shige-boh. Uncertain as to how I'd navigated there, I landed on a video of elderly Japanese men and women unselfconsciously, super earnestly "busting" hip-hop dance moves in of-the-moment urban streetwear. What is this? I couldn't help but break into an ear-to-ear grin at these seniors' jubilant faces, accompanied by CNN anchor Mayu Yoshida's deadpan reporting:

Hip-hop dance lessons for seniors are popping up across Tokyo. This group calls themselves the Senior Monsters. They are part of the latest health craze that proves you are never too old to bust a move.

Never too old, indeed. Yoshida introduced a seventy-two-year-old man named Shige-boh, who demonstrated the complicated footwork of traditional street dance. He's good! He explained in English, "I started dancing to hip-hop after I retired. Six months after I started learning hip-hop, I went on a show. It was a bit embarrassing at first, but I invited my family. It was an unforgettable moment. I am very happy when I'm dancing."

I get it. I'm very happy when I'm dancing, too. I rewound my own mental tape twenty-five years to when I practiced my own moves, with great enthusiasm, in front of the television in my mom's cramped New York apartment. At fourteen, my cousin Jessica and I were obsessed with the In Living Color Fly Girls. Our only future ambition was to become one of them, and we spent hours after school each day choreographing dances in the little space between the television and the sofa. This continued until our hardworking moms and well-meaning school guidance counselors delivered the memo that a sounder plan for our future was required. I kicked off my gold-glitter sneakers and put dance on the back burner in favor of a more traditional professional track-college, law school, mom to three kids. My cousin Jessica, similarly, followed suit.

But to this day, my passion for dance has not waned. Just ask my children, who groan with exaggerated embarrassment when I do the running man while brushing my teeth, flash jazz hands while packing their school lunches, or bust a move as I'm folding the laundry: Mom, pleassssssse stop!!!

My husband, Seth, on the other hand, gets a kick out of my clumsy choreography, goading me into a dance routine when we're out with friends (following a couple of glasses of wine, it happens). After all, it was our shared love for hip-hop when we met more than fifteen years ago that initially clarified for us both that we were perfectly matched.

Watching the Senior Monsters on the flight home, I had a full-circle moment. Jessica's bad date has an important lesson for us. I pulled out my journal and frantically started writing. "Life is a series of storms. As we get older, they tend to be more frequent. Taking time to have 'fun' is how we weather them. The storms will keep coming,  so we must learn to DANCE IN THE RAIN!"

I could hardly wait to share this connection with Jessica. The next morning, with my kids running in circles around me, frantically searching for backpacks and lost shoes, I forwarded the video to Jessica with a note: "MUST WATCH." Ten minutes later, just as I was racing out the door with my two older boys for the school drop-off routine (while balancing their lunches, my laptop, an overstuffed tote, and my car keys in hand), she wrote back: "Is Shige-boh single?"

I responded with an LOL and added: "I think you might be too late and too young for Shige-boh, but there's no expiration date to having a little fun. Pull out your dancing shoes, cuz. It's time to start dancing in the rain."

Creative Time Is Not Optional

I know my cousin and I are not the only people to look up from their busy lives and realize we've left some of our youthful dreaming and passion behind. You might feel it, too. What does your heart sing for? What does your body crave? What piques your curiosity? What does your intellect yearn for? What did you give up that you want to get back...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593328019
• ISBN 13: 9780593328019
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland