THINGS ARE WHAT YOU MAKE OF THEM Life Advice for Creatives

Photographer and blogger Adam J. Kurtz has a huge supply of heartfelt wisdom about the challenges creative people face in maintaining the life balance and self-respect needed to be happy and productive. He's an earnest, sometimes overachieving narrator of this aggregation of blog posts and essays, but his performance has clarity, and his enthusiasm is never in doubt. Aimed at writers, entrepreneurs, and artists of all kinds, this guide to the speed bumps of artistic life describes the mental traps artists fall into as they let criticism, comparisons, and outright failure diminish their ability to share their gifts. The variety of ideas collected here sometimes sounds disparate or under-elaborated, making this a busy-sounding listen. But the author knows this territory well, so there is much of value to be absorbed. T.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2021]