2.0

Simple read about creativity and being in the present moment. Bell's advice takes the approach of a stream of consciousness writing, dishing out lots of bite-sized sentences of wisdom that breaks down the easy process of following what you love to do. However, halfway through this book, I couldn't help but feel like the author gave up on a bigger theme of what he was aiming for. Every page or so is a nugget of inspiration, but having not been familiar with any of his other works or his service as a pastor, I don't know if this captures his passion for what he loves to do. It starts out as a book about creativity, and then starts repeating itself or going off into loose tangents about maintaining a life in general if you've reached one of the epiphanies he's offered, and then finishes out of nowhere.

As simple as the book is, it falls into some traps of the self-help genre. Bell's tone often comes across as 'it's so easy, if you do it, you'll be happy/more creative/etc.'. And I find these kinds of 'self-help' books a tad alienating because they take on the persona of being so positive that they aren't really relateable. And instead of expressing true examples of challenges that people have faced, his are quite cliche: "someone can be so rich and have the world at their disposal but are miserable" vs "someone who can barely make ends meet are so happy because they're creative and have nothing to lose". Those two different lifestyles lie at opposite ends of the spectrum and may not be applicable to the average person reading it. I liked the simplistic nature of the book, and found some helpful ideas, but overall, it's just okay.