Introduction for My 9th Act
Introduction for My 9th Act
A variety of biographies, autobiographies and memoir articles I have read or tv shows focused on people starting their 2nd or 3rd Acts in their lives.
In 2006 I read two books:
The Element by Sir Ken Robinson of TED Talk fame
and
Van Gogh Blues by Dr. Eric Maisel, creator of the professional organization for Creativity Coaches or psychotherapists that work with creative people not simply mental ill people in general.
Reading them impacted my thinking about my life and my professional work that I had been doing since 1984 full time and part time since 1976.
I had been working as a professional speaker, trainer, college professor and a consultant trying to help managers and company owners or CEOs to develop their supervisors to their upper managers in knowledge, skills and styles of
Leading
Communicating
Teaming
Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving
and some topics that fit those categories that were popular from 1980 to 2006.
After do the work for so long I was doubting the real value of them because I saw little to no application of what I thought I was teaching every week somewhere.
In 1998 after the death of my wife, Merry, I began traveling internationally again, one or two countries each year to speak at creativity conferences as I had been speaking at since 1978 in the US and Canada. In 1977 and 1978 I had traveled extensively around Europe to 24 countries. In 1982 I taught in the UGA Art Department's Summer Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy.
In 1999, 2000 I traveled to a few countries in Europe and to Mexico.
In 2001 I took my first trip completely around the globe. That year it lastest for 90 days and took me 1 and 1/2 times around and to 20 countries.
In 2002 I began planning my second trip around but it would include paying work and not just volunteer presentations at creativity conferences or at schools or civic groups like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis or Toastmasters club.
I left in March of 2003 heading to Philadelphia to speak at an ACA - American Creativity Association Convention and then headed to Osaka, Japan. When I woke up in Osaka the English newspapers front pages were covered with stories about how President Bush and US troops had attacked Iraq in the previous 24 hours. When I returned to Athens I had been traveling for 84 days continuously around the globe with the last country being Ireland.
By the end of 2003 I had traveled completely around the globe two more times to present for paying clients. The 2nd was for 29 days. The 3rd was for only 9 days.
The following 3 years I traveled to 6 to 10 countries to work with clients or at creativity conferences.
In 2006 after all the traveling and working internationally I had turned cold to doing programs about Leading, Communicating, Teaming, Conflict and even Harassment and decided to stop marketing for new programs except programs about creative thinking and especially to countries I had not traveled to.
That year while and after reading The Element and Van Gogh's Blue I created a speech for the Toastmaster's Club I had rejoined that I titled
Searching for My 9th Element
For 13 years I have been attempting to discover or create My 9th Element or my 9th Act or profession since I began working as a freelance cartoonist and graphic designer when I was 16 in 1960.
A variety of biographies, autobiographies and memoir articles I have read or tv shows focused on people starting their 2nd or 3rd Acts in their lives.
In 2006 I read two books:
The Element by Sir Ken Robinson of TED Talk fame
and
Van Gogh Blues by Dr. Eric Maisel, creator of the professional organization for Creativity Coaches or psychotherapists that work with creative people not simply mental ill people in general.
Reading them impacted my thinking about my life and my professional work that I had been doing since 1984 full time and part time since 1976.
I had been working as a professional speaker, trainer, college professor and a consultant trying to help managers and company owners or CEOs to develop their supervisors to their upper managers in knowledge, skills and styles of
Leading
Communicating
Teaming
Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving
and some topics that fit those categories that were popular from 1980 to 2006.
After do the work for so long I was doubting the real value of them because I saw little to no application of what I thought I was teaching every week somewhere.
In 1998 after the death of my wife, Merry, I began traveling internationally again, one or two countries each year to speak at creativity conferences as I had been speaking at since 1978 in the US and Canada. In 1977 and 1978 I had traveled extensively around Europe to 24 countries. In 1982 I taught in the UGA Art Department's Summer Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy.
In 1999, 2000 I traveled to a few countries in Europe and to Mexico.
In 2001 I took my first trip completely around the globe. That year it lastest for 90 days and took me 1 and 1/2 times around and to 20 countries.
In 2002 I began planning my second trip around but it would include paying work and not just volunteer presentations at creativity conferences or at schools or civic groups like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis or Toastmasters club.
I left in March of 2003 heading to Philadelphia to speak at an ACA - American Creativity Association Convention and then headed to Osaka, Japan. When I woke up in Osaka the English newspapers front pages were covered with stories about how President Bush and US troops had attacked Iraq in the previous 24 hours. When I returned to Athens I had been traveling for 84 days continuously around the globe with the last country being Ireland.
By the end of 2003 I had traveled completely around the globe two more times to present for paying clients. The 2nd was for 29 days. The 3rd was for only 9 days.
The following 3 years I traveled to 6 to 10 countries to work with clients or at creativity conferences.
In 2006 after all the traveling and working internationally I had turned cold to doing programs about Leading, Communicating, Teaming, Conflict and even Harassment and decided to stop marketing for new programs except programs about creative thinking and especially to countries I had not traveled to.
That year while and after reading The Element and Van Gogh's Blue I created a speech for the Toastmaster's Club I had rejoined that I titled
Searching for My 9th Element
For 13 years I have been attempting to discover or create My 9th Element or my 9th Act or profession since I began working as a freelance cartoonist and graphic designer when I was 16 in 1960.
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