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When my sisters and I used to spend time together, someone always went home with a new hair color. These days we\u2019re more apt to be gathered around a computer, as we were on Thanksgiving showing Becky how to upload her photo on her new Facebook page.<\/p>\n
I am appreciative and thankful that my siblings are curious adults who teach me all sorts of things. The day before Thanksgiving, my sister Margaret and I made a trip to Lowe\u2019s, a place I find mildly intimidating. Going with Margaret is a different experience, however, since it\u2019s more like visiting a museum. We had gone to buy some mundane safety treads for my bathtub. I left with a new light fixture for my kitchen which Margaret assured me I could install myself. \u201cIf you get stuck,\u201d she said, \u201ccall and I\u2019ll walk you through it.\u201d We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
Because one of the things I am especially thankful for is the free enterprise system, it\u2019s not surprising that I came across all sorts of stories that added to my joy during this holiday week. On my drive from Las Vegas to California, I always listen to an audiobook and I picked a good one, even though I knew nothing about it. Good Business<\/strong><\/em> by Mihaly Csikzentmahalyi takes a look at how visionary entrepreneurs create an environment that allows for flow, that optimal state of creativity that the author brought to our attention back in 1991 through his bestselling book Flow<\/strong><\/em>. He shares many ideas that an entrepreneur running a tiny business will find useful. And the quotes from Anita Roddick are profound.<\/p>\n Margaret, who had been a volunteer for the Obama campaign, told me a terrific story about Scott Jacobs, a 22-year-old local artist was was evicted from his house on Election Day. He took a half-finished painting of Obama that he\u2019d been working on and set up his easel in front of Ben & Jerry\u2019s, who were giving away free ice cream to anyone who had proof they\u2019d voted. Jacobs attracted a lot of attention–and suddenly his life got much better before the day was over. You can read this great story at the Ventura County Star<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n Entrepreneurial artists were already on my mind thanks to a piece in the NY Times<\/em> called Transforming Art Into a More Lucrative Career Choice<\/a>. Check it out.<\/p>\n Guy Kawasaki, another personal favorite, has an article called The Art of Bootstrapping<\/a><\/em> that is worth a look. Actually, it\u2019s worth printing out and rereading on a regular basis.<\/p>\n