WELCOME OctOberwhelm

Painting by Edward Raymes

To the illumined mind, the whole world burns and sparkles with light. - RW Emerson

Welcome to amber, alter egos and pumpkin pie, welcome to October. Thanks for taking some time to open the Muse letter - it contains ingredients to illuminate your mind. All this print looks overwhelming so do this.. print it out, read it a little at a time with a little illumined music playing in the background, sip cider spiked with fizzy water.

Now let's play.

Secret # 8 of Successful Creative People - Divulged Right Now:
(take a deep breath, copy it down and pin it to your smock-upside down so you can see it)
Creative people do creative things.. just a little at a time, imperfectly at first, but repeatedly so that excellence cannot help but unfold and so that unexpected discovery is provided opportunity. Creative people do.
Many people, not all, but many who find themselves reading about creativity may be engaged in (Procrastination Strategy (P.S.) # 4251A which reads- When I read about creativity, it is much like doing it. Actually doing a prompt that is suggested in a creative book, newsletter or fly-by blimp is out of the question.
(false).

I'm not saying that YOU do this. But just in CASE you do, read on. If you don not do this skip below to the asterisk * or just skip because skipping is a happy movement.

In the interest of putting thought into action, let's explore some creative expression. ( Is an impulse to avoid action flaring up? Is a voice saying "I don't have time"? Or "I'll come back to this"? OR "I'll just READ through this"? OR "Writing isn't what I do"? OR "I am so not going to do this because I am a rebellious creative person"?) 
Triumph.
Break the pattern.
Or just relax and read. It's all good.
Fact: Participation in ANY creative endeavor feeds that part of our brain which will serve the pursuit we are passionate about (or we may discover a new passion which can make life just a little grander). Writing feeds art. Art feeds music. Dance feeds kindness. Photography feeds relationships. Creative expression of any kind feeds contentment and contentment is what we create when we choose thoughts from the palette of paying attention to delight. Choosing thoughts is creative - it creates our reality. Pumpkin pie. (Not sure why I added that-'cept that I'd like some right now).

Optional Doing: Let's write for two minutes. Either write about pumpkin pie OR do this: Make an imperfect list of alter egos, sub-personalities, secret selves, hidden desires, geisha girls, rock and roll stars, comedian news commentators, gargoyles. If you could explore six roles other than the one you are living now.. what would they be? I might be an actor and writer on a show like The Office, a Disney character who sings unbelievably high melodies to birds that land on the delicate pose of my cartoon hand, a choreographer for an ensemble of performance-art dancers, a movie director, an eccentric sculptor, a seeing eye person for a blind dog.
Okay. Did you do it? If NOT, scroll down to the asterisk*. If you DID... yay ...you completed something. You can put it away and come back to it later for part two. You have accomplished a small success.
If you wish to do more with this creative exercise in this moment, you get extra credit.

Pick one of the alter egos and begin writing quickly about it as if you were fully engaged in who that alter egos roll. The faster you write, the more you will bypass predictability and judgment, answering each unfinished sentence in just about 30 seconds to a minute and then moving on to the next. Here are the unfinished sentences: I am.... , I am known for...., My latest accomplishment is ...., I am uncomfortable with.... , I laugh when ....,
In the winter I .... My next project is ....., On vacations I ... ,I'd just like to tell the world .....
Now, if indeed you allowed yourself this creative exploration,  you will have one or all of the following: a few moments of amusement which is good for the soul, a refreshing exercise which is good for the brain, a new character for a story, a new idea that unpredictably arises  as it sometimes does when we are engaged in anything creative, a little more self respect for following through on something small, or perhaps a questioning look on your face - curiosity is good for creative thought. Optional: Do something for yourself that  is representative of your alter ego.. for me it might be choreographing the first few minutes of a favorite song, sketching a quirky dancer, or inventing a new character for The Office for my own amusement and for a little practice with writing.

The Asterisk* 
Kaizen Muse tools that can help us to engage in creative pursuits such as the one above: 1. "Kid-Stuff" I get to: Thinking to yourself "I get to" to a creative exercise vs the dread-lock phrase of "I have to."
2. Acting As if: Act "as if" you simply DO every creative exercise that crosses your path.
3. Mind Sculpting: Taking a moment to imagine the muscles used, the positive feelings triggered, the creativity expelled when engaged in such an exercise.
4. Writing how we might not complete an exercise- increases our awareness.
5. Give yourself credit for what you ARE doing - this enhances the self esteem vital to the creative process.  You are probably doing more than you are giving yourself credit for.   Acknowledging small successes makes having more of them more likely.

If these tools appeal to you, you may want to be coached by a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach or be trained and certified to coach with others. Talk to me at info@themuseisin.com 
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CLASS AND WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Classes and Workshops can make "doing" easier for creative people. We often need just a little structure to make action more possible.

DROP-IN CREATIVE WRITING CLASS
Every Tuesday at noon at E Street Cafe'   http://www.estreetcafe.com/
Drop-in writing. Just bring pen and paper.  Inspiration  prompts, prods, lists, unfinished sentences, muse-gimmicks, and lively conversation are provided. . All levels, creative boosts for all kinds of writing. No critique, creative freedom.

CREATIVITY CLASS ON THE PHONE WITH JILL AND MARNEY
OCTOBER 18, 2006 5 pacific, 7 central, 8 eastern  Swimming in the Pudding: How to Have More Fun in the Real World  http://www.artellawordsandart.com/workshops.html#swim
Please join Marney and I for the last in our kid-oriented class series. Attendance in any other of our classes is not required. This class is about viewing the world through a kid's perspective in order to make it more fun, manageable, and creative.

HAUNTED HEAD WRITING WORKSHOP
OCTOBER 19, 2006 7-9 p.m. at Book Works Bookstore in the Flower Hill Mall $13
The third Thursday drop-in writing workshop features writing from the shadow-side this month. All levels, no critique, prompts, tricks and treats that make writing easy.. for journal writers, poets, prose writers, beginners, novelists with novels coming out in December, people who enjoy writing nonsense, and those who don't think they can write at all. Dark writing and  dark chocolate.

MUSE FACILITATOR TRAINING
NOVEMBER 1- 4, 2006 Petite Auberge B&B San Francisco FILLED

ANNUAL DREAM BOARD WORKSHOP AND DINNER
SATURDAY JANUARY 20, 2007 at the Ridgeback Ranch in Ramona CA  2pm - 7pm New Moon Gourmet Dinner cooked by Chef Kofron included. In the phase of a new moon where beginnings take on lunar forces join in one of the most powerful processes of creative manifestation ever:making a dream board. Get clear on your dreams for 2007 and watch them unfold. A guided imagery and ritual of belief make this a group workshop for individual clarity even more powerful. This is the most requested of all of my workshops because of its undisputed results year after year.. the pictures we put on our dream board happen. Almost all of my last years dream board wishes have come true including a new book contract, a finished guided imagery CD,  the appearance of several people who are making my work easier and more fun, improved health, more dance, and more events filled with laughter.  Dream board early registration by November 1 is $59, by December 1 $70, by January 1 $80, $90 at the door. Small price for big dreams. Enrollment is limited to 20. Out of towners are invited to stay in near-by Julian - a charming mountain village with an abundance of bed and breakfast inns.

KAIZEN-MUSE CREATIVITY COACHING CERTIFICATION TRAINING
JANUARY 16 - APRIL18th, 2007
Find out more about how to add another stream of income and joy to your life by becoming a certified creativity coach. The small step method of Kaizen meets up with the Muses' playful practicality in this 14 week training designed to train individuals to liberate the creativity of others. See more information in an article below.
http://themuseisin.com/coaching.html     email info@themuseisin.com
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WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CREATIVITY COACHING? Creativity Coaches in training are now taking clients for low cost sessions. Don't miss this opportunity to explore moving forward in a way that respects the resistant nature of the creative person and the non-linear nature of the creative process unlike life coaching or self-berating tactics. Break through blocks, self-sabotage, procrastination, frustration in not getting to your dream, fear and low self-confidence with Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching - Every phone call is a designed experience one small step at a time. For an  e-letter on what Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching is and whether it is something that might help you stay true to your dream, please email info@themuseisin.com .
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THE "ALTERED" REALITY SHOW SOUNDTRACK: Part Too

Meanwhile last month we talked about  the Altered Reality Show Soundtrack Channel One: You can catch the rerun at the newsletter archives: http://themuseisin.com/newsletter.html#arch

Soundtracks in this sphere refer to the use of music to augment inspiration, shift a mood or otherwise alter our thoughts to further experience the mind's malleability for new realities - creative thinking. Soundtracks in movies can change the whole experience of that movie. Learning from the movie experience - we can listen to music and change a mood or shift our minds into a place of generating creative ideas for writing, art, dance, or planning your week. What music inspires ideas for you?
Yesterday in our E Street Writing Class we let ambient or trance music guide our writing. A hypnotic rhythm inspired our minds to journey forward in sync with the movement of a repetitive melody. Written to the repetitive rhythms of mood music:

"You are in a room of chandeliers. You are on the floor looking up through the chandeliers -there is no ceiling. The chandeliers are suspended and moving slightly from the breeze - crystals from some of the chandeliers are lightly tinkling.
Above the chandeliers, all kinds of chandeliers, is the vastness of sky. You wonder if this is a dream. Then you know it is a dream because wondering if reality is a dream really doesn't happen, though there are some exceptions. It's a dream. It's surreal. You hear music in the background – it's coming from behind the walls - this dream has walls. The music has a hypnotic percussive quality and you notice its power to lift you– and as you ascend so do the chandeliers. The walls remain static – you lift above the walls and then the music stops and you just hear the crystals tinkling and in the distance a group of people begin singing the sound of Om and as soon as you hear them, you and the chandeliers begin to drift in their direction. You are drifting. Then they stop the singing and you stop and all you hear is chandelier crystals until you hear crickets and you and the chandeliers drift in the direction of the crickets until you are over a wooded area and you smell damp wood clad in a dewy breeze and a forest green hue you begin to gently descend and the tinkling chandeliers drift upward and you are left with your thoughts and they tinkle with the breeze and you awaken and there is dust on your chandelier and the smell of coffee coming from the kitchen." -jill 
 
Writing Prompt: Write, paint, scribble, doodle or creatively move to ambient or trance music, or simply listen and see what colors emerge. If you are writing, start with a location and a description of something in that location and see if the music takes you on a journey. Try writing about yourself using "you" rather than I.
Or pick a sound of some sort and start writing based on the where the description of that sound takes you.
Creative people do and when they don't feel like doing,  they do it anyway.
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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS- A Kaizen-Muse Creativity Tool

Using different perspectives of thought is one of many ways to start thinking more creatively. One of the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching tools we use to enhance ingenuity as well as flexibility of thought is called "Persona." The  KMCC definition "is to borrow your perception of someone else's perspective in order to see the world for a moment from their point of view. Personas can dislodge you from a habitual thought pattern into a refreshing way to think or to come up with ideas." Here is a story that illustrates the tool of "Persona."

Commentary on Living Life by Lynda Treger, Muse Facilitator
It's dangerous to open old e-mail. Don't know why I did it. Maybe a walk down memory lane before I headed out for my morning stroll through the forest? What a disaster. An e-mail from my sister.....she was yelling at me in capital letters. The anger in her words penetrated my solar plexus and I began to feel hostile. Let's do this walk.

I drove to the forest parking lot and let Harley-dog out.....that I remember. I fumed and walked, letting my emotions propel me unconsciously onward until I found myself at the highest point of the path, not recalling how I got there. There I was at my Intuition Point where I usually looked forward to asking questions and receiving answers revealed as signs along the way. But I was blind-sighted by noxious emotions. How do I get out of this muck?! I prayed.

The pain in my gut twisted as Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, popped into my thoughts. I had been mourning him for two days now, ever since his shocking death. A sting ray, in a gesture of self-defense, stabbed him in the heart. An alignment of horribly bad luck. The hurt deepened with thoughts of his wife Terry and his children Bindi and Bob, living without him. I didn't know what to do about his death.

Then I began thinking about his life. I wondered how Steve Irwin had handled disappointment and even anger? I wondered what he did when someone tossed hurt his way? I got into 'being' The Crocodile Hunter, feeling impassioned and purposeful, busy with living every second of life. And this is what he said: " I listen, give it thought, and let it go, mate. I've got so many wonderful things to do today. I love my life. Anger doesn't penetrate me. My time is so precious."

His time was precious. And mine? Am I any less mortal? No.

And so two wounds in my solar plexus healed. I had been gifted. I admired Steve Irwin's life and I loved mine. The anger disappeared as I let go of it's claim on me. I whistled for Harley. He came bounding towards me and jumped in the car. I got in thinking.....great men do die.....wounds can be healed.....don't open old e-mail.

Lynda Treger, alive and well
lynda_treger@hotmail.com

Who's persona can shift your thinking?
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DOORWAYS TO THE IMAGINATION: Guided Imageries for Creative Thought

Experience Jill Badonsky's new guided imagery CD: Doorways to the Imagination: Guided Imageries for Enhanced Creativity. For purchase information, send an email to info@themuseisin.com with "Doorways" in the subject line.  Send a friend or a loved one on a creative journey by giving Doorways to the Imagination as a gift for the holidays.

A guided imagery is a narrated experience that relaxes the mind and body, provides suggestions designed to take consciousness deep, making creative thought more accessible. A musical background elicits imagery and inspiration. Repeated practice with guided imageries makes flexible, resourceful and ingenious thinking a more automatic experience of life and the creative process. Guided imageries on this CD are designed:

-        to reach a different level of perception, intuition and clarity by quieting the mind and tapping into the potential of wisdom and clarity that comes in a relaxed state.

-        to quiet the mind's chatter in order to access ideas, inspiration, imagination and intuition.

-        to support the habit of turning inward for direction and creativity.

-        to practice quieting and directing the mind so that the ability to focus and stay with an inspired idea is  further cultivated.

-        to lower stress in order to get in touch with joy, positive thinking, higher purposes and direction.

-        to reach another, often deeper and enjoyably effective channel of awareness and possibility generation

-        to provide a fertile ground for connections to occur

The Doorways to the Imagination CD provides you with the following guided imageries which are at least 10 minutes in length:
The Creative Garden
To  inspire, motivate, and focus you on the experience of action in the realm of a particular creative activity. To create neural pathways that make getting to your creative pursuit easier.

Return to the Garden
To play with and expand upon the design of a nourishing garden scene as well as expand on the feeling of actually being engaged in the creative process of your choice by using more music and less narration for the continuation of the Creative Garden. This is a powerful visualization that will serve you on many levels the more you do it.

Time Journey
To access wisdom and perspective and set up an expectation that your future is unfolding in a positive manner. 
 
House of Doors
To develop alpha and theta brain wave activity,  the brain waves responsible for creativity and intuition. Visiting this guided imagery often will have a profound effect on your dream imagery, imagination, intuition and creative motivation by awakening pleasurable visions, feelings, thoughts and their enticing possibilities. 

Order Doors to the Imagination for you or as a gift by emailing info@themuseisin.com and typing Doorways in the Subject Line $20 includes postage and handling. 3 for $50. Comes with a written guide -exercises for an enhanced experience.
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A MUSE IN STORE
The Muse is In company and website facilitates creativity for joy and prosperity. We are opening an on-line store for products and art from the Modern Day Muses. Products, successfully juried to represent these Muses, will be available in the A Muse in Store. If you are familiar with Jill Badonsky's Muses you are invited also to enter works of art for sale in the Muse Garden Gallery as INSPIRED by one or more of the Muses (for instance a work from from Audacity might be a bold, courageous work, Spills might be a work exemplifying a mistake made into art, Bea Silly- well.. she's self explanatory, etc.) Please email me at info@themuseisin.com for more information and guidelines.
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KAIZEN MUSE CREATIVITY COACHING

KAIZEN-MUSE CREATIVITY COACHING:
The next 14-week Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching certification training program runs from January 17th to April 18th, 2007.

Creativity Coaching is receiving more visibility every day through media and word of mouth simply because it works.  Creative individuals often need the support of others, a container for success and a system of accountability that honors resistance, rebellion and the non-linear nature of creativity. Resistance breaks down, focus begins and motivation remains.
This is a tax deductible training that results in a viable stream of income for individuals passionate about learning how the creative process can be made more accessible for others as well as for themselves.
Early registration $1250 by November 15, after November 15 cost is $1400 .

Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching (KMCC) is a model of creativity coaching designed by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. with updated tools as inspired by Robert Maurer Ph.D. (www.scienceofexcellence.com) The techniques used in this model of coaching have resulted in life changing successes for hundreds of individuals desiring to move past creative blocks to a life of fulfilled expression, renewed motivation, focus and ingenuity. Creativity coaching is for individuals who want to live a more creative life as well as for those wanting to pursue specific creative dreams. Clients include writers, artists, storytellers, advertising professionals and people from all walks of life looking to incorporate more of the joy of creativity into their daily existence. 

This model of coaching specializes in moving individuals past the following creative blocks:
        ~Fears related to the creative process including of fear of failure, of wasting time and resources, of being judged, of inadequacy.
       ~Fear of success 
         (the increased pressure and responsibility associated with   success).
        ~Self Sabotage (continual frustration with setting intentions and not taking action).
        ~Procrastination/ Discipline Challenges
        ~Immobilizing Perfectionism
        ~Overwhelm
        ~Self-Doubt/ Comparison
        ~Inability to Focus
        ~Time Challenges
        ~Difficulty starting or finishing projects
        ~Difficulty returning to creative endeavors previously enjoyed
        ~Difficulty enjoying their present expereince of work.

KMCC also teaches individuals how to enhance their lives and work by thinking, acting, and solving problems creatively. It supports the notion that fulfillment comes when we authentically share our gifts, explore and express the unique potential of the self, and train the mind to be more positively resourceful. It provides stress management and a new lease on life by creating thinking habits more related to joy and contentment.

The KMCC training program is an accelerated program for those with experience in coaching, therapy, or human relations. The program is taught by author and creativity coaching pioneer, Jill Badonsky,M.Ed. and UCLA psychologist, Dr. Robert Maurer.  For more information or to apply, please write info@themuseisin.com 

The Kaizen-Muse partnership takes Kaizen, rooted 2,000 year old wisdom that employs a one-small-step-at-a-time tactical approach to resolving the neurological and psychological realities of the mind and combines it with Muse 'Technology', a whimsical but profoundly practical way of liberating creativity, awakening slumbering talents and finding pathways to authentic living.

KMCC coaches-in-training are now accepting clients wanting to to break through frustrating habits, self-sabotage and fear in order to move forward with their creative passion. Four Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching sessions are offered at a reduced cost.  Sessions take place over the phone, are non-threatening and designed to address the resistances, rebellion and sensitivities of creative people .

Please email info@themuseisin.com for more information on the KMCC training or if you are interested in trying out a gentle accountability for moving forward with your creative dreams - whether it be on a certain project or simply to think more creatively.

Congratulations to newly certified Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, Barbara Benedict.
Barbara is founder of A Creative Practice: Helping people Find and Express their Creative Voice. She works with writers, artists, choreographers, musicians and comedians, first-timers, HSPs, boomers, career-changers. Contact: MuseBarbaraNY@aol.com 212.787.2857 917.930.6714 Located in New York City.
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OctOber CELEBRATED

Acronyms
from Jeanne Hillson
  October's colors transform, offering bold emblematic reminders 
  Our creativity transcends obvious, banal, everyday responses. 
  Octopuses can turn over by envisioning reversals. 
from Nicky Pitman
Oval Cantaloupes Twirl On Borrowed Electric RV's
from Francine M. Scaccia-Cajar
Occasions Come Together Offering Birth Earth Remembered
from Moi
Orange Cat Talks Of Burgundy-flavored Edible Rat

October Poems
by Nicky Pitman
October falls like leaves right into her season,
She turns the clock back, because to her it's a pleasin'.
Happy she is to once again wear long sleeves,
And to jump in huge piles of red-orange crunchy leaves.
Her favorite outing is a day in the great pumpkin patch,
She wears an ensemble of orange - to her it's essential to match.
She can carve a mean jack-o-lantern and make a great pie,
"I just can't share the recipe," she says winking an eye.
One year she was a pirate, one year a ghost,
The best was when she was a gypsy - but she don't like to boast.
Though she can be sly and mysterious, she's tempered with sweet,
Sometimes she's a trickster but she's always a treat.
 
by Kristi Kovalishyn
O ut with the old.
C hill in the air
T ells me that I am
O lder ...
B etter at being myself.
E ndless quest for self equals
R ebirth

Wanted: November Acronyms, Poems, Photos or Visual Art
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Good-bye for Now

Thanks for joining me this month. May your month be filled with delightful discoveries and tricky treats. Hope to see you or hear from you soon,

Just Floating,
Jill
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(c) 2006 Jill Badonsky  - All the contents of this newsletter are copyrighted. Please do not duplicate without written permission. Carry on.
Picture: Watercolor by Jill Badonsky

In This Issue:

NEW BOOK

Heidi Lerner, a Muse is IN writing student, would like to make this announcement:

It is my pleasure, pride and joy to let you know that my book, Gray Matters has been published!!!  You can order a copy from my web page - www.graymatters4u.com .  It is available both in hard cover and paperback.  

Please pass the word to anyone you believe would be inspired by the creative journey of a woman who experienced a brain injury.

Gray Matter

PRODUCT AUDACITY

Some of the participants at the Kaizen Meets the Muses Conference show off a product that gets rid of the opinions of others from the Muse Audacity. Improvised team infomercials demonstrating products from Modern Day Muses: Albert, Bea Silly, Audacity, Aha-phrodite and Muse Song were a highlight of the three day conference in Del Mar, CA. Watch for upcoming conferences. Pictured left to right Lynda Treger, Francine Scaccia-Cajar, Tristan Cajar, Nicky Pitman, Sally Evans, Susan Volpe. This product is not available in any store, call before midnight today, operators are waiting to take your order. Don't give your power away anymore.

A MUSE FROM ENGLAND

CREATIVITY RETREAT IN ENGLAND
September 2007 Berni and I will be presenting creative workshops on guided imagery, collage and the translation of modern day Muses into art, writing and movement.. We want to know if you are even remotely interested in attending. Please email info@themuseisin.com with England interest in the subject line for our email alert list.

The Internet gifts us with the lovely opportunity to discover like-minded individuals in different countries. Berni, my new friend from England, and I now meet for tea over the phone once a week and discuss the magic of the creative process. Berni's energy and thinking is so much fun that I asked her to write an article to share with you, the Muse Letter's readers (funny.. I seem to be writing in an English accent). Do catch the rest of the article by clicking on her link below and have a super time reading it.

From Berni:
"Write me an article, she says, write about what you teach" "No problem, thinks I, piece of cake, I'll write about the women's group workshops on being Splendidly Imperfect"

I love teaching groups of women about the art of splendid imperfection, about letting go of the rigid, hard, guilt-inducing parts of their lives. My mind is in a whirr, there's so much stuff in there - what bits will I use for this article I ponder. I don't want to miss anything out. I search through my books - lots to use in them - I flick through past workshops I've held, yes I can definitely use some bits from them, I sit at my computer, lovingly, the bringer of great joy and mountains of information, its orgasmic the information I access. I randomly print out reams of paper containing a multitude of useful tidbits that might come in handy. I think some more. I research some more. I think some more...and two weeks on at 4 am in the morning whilst I am frantically searching for a lost document in my favourites, I am in a state of panic. I am at war with the computer.
My eyes start to close, my head starts to nod, I am ready to wave the white flag....when wham a sneaky realization hits me, 

Catch the rest of Berni's article here

INSPIRATION

"Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance." - Bruce Barton