Unleash Your Creativity and Find Joy: The Creative Cure Book Review

This book is about as much of a copy of The Artists Way that I have found. Both books say anyone can be an artist. This is not true. I am an artist and it takes a lot of effort and desire to be productive. it is an insult to artists to write books like this. I couldn't even get through the first chapter.

I knew as soon as the forward was by Julia Cameron - champion of lying to people and writing a book complied entirely of false stories written for people who want some kind of reason to say they are an artist, that this book was trash.

It might feel good to call yourself an artist, but unless you are constantly producing art, you are not one. I say this not in a demeaning way. I understand how to taste, but that doesn't make me a chef. I've been reading a lot about creativity and art lately. How much easier is it to write about something than it is to do it? I could write a book about how lovely it would be if everyone could be a astronaut if they just felt that they were an astronaut, but no one would buy it. No one would even read it. Why is it people can write books like this and not see the same thing.

Being creative and creating art are not birthrights. They are not for everyone. People have different gifts when they come into being and not everyone is an artist. Sure, you might have drawn with crayons when you were a kid, that doesn't mean as an adult you are an artist. I played with lincoln logs a child, that does not make me an architect.

There are art schools for a reason. Sure, I guess you can call yourself an artist if you feel like it. I mean no one is stopping you. I am going to call myself a movie star because I am acting in my own life. You can call yourself whatever you want. If you're not creating art, you are not an artist. Plain and simple.

It takes a lot of work to generate new ideas and concepts and make something visual no one has ever done before. It's hard work. And it takes years. Many years.

The biggest insult from books like this is that they are giving people false identities and making them believe a lie. Maybe the author really believes everyone is an artist. They might actually believe that. I think they found a market for people who are unhappy with their lives and need someone to tell them that they are more than that they think they are. More than they are.

It's nonsense and if you want to save your time, don't read this book. Stare out a window instead. You'll gain more insight to who you really are doing that for an hour than reading this book of nonsense.

This is a great guide to finding your creative self and in doing so finding joy. A practical guide that gives you exercises to tap into your intuitive creative side. Thank you!

This book is the permission slip you didn't know you needed!
When the window of your creativity (and true joy) has been painted shut, The Creative Cure is the putty knife required to pry it open, giving you the "out" you've been seeking. After reading this book, grab your true self by the hand, crawl through your newly opened window and greet the world (and yourself) with a fresh new perspective.

After purchasing this book I set it aside for a couple of months certain that I had more important things to do than read another self-help book. Besides, I'm already pretty creative, am I not? I just need to spend more time with my painting practice. Then, during a low moment, we all have those don't we?, I picked it up and began reading it once again. This time as I read tears welled up as he recounted the experience he had early on with meditation when he met his younger self. This book has turned out to be the very thing I needed. Jacob has a unique gift for storytelling that draws you in and touches you very soul. His exercises are simple and easily fit into even the busiest of lives. Thank you Jacob for sharing your precious gift!

Like having the author there with you. His witing style is such you can fell like he is there with you guiding you to find your creativeness again. To play and and enjoy this part of you. Easy to understand , yet deeply moving. I am loving the journal exercises. Absolutely a must read for those on the path to healing .

I picked up this intriguing book not really knowing what to expect. I’ve been seriously writing for 16 years and I also teach writing and am well-versed in different creative strategies and practices. I was wondering what I could possibly find in The Creative Cure that would be new to me and shift my way of thinking about what it means to be a writer and creative.

Well, then I started reading and Jacob Nordby blew the top of my head off within the first couple of chapters.

As I turned the pages I could feel myself having a visceral reaction to Nordby’s words, his reassurance that we are all creative, and that we all know how to do this nourishing, beautiful thing—this creating something out of nothing—from the time we are children. It’s just that we’re ripped away from our natural creative tendencies by the pressure to conform to society’s expectations of what a productive person looks like, and also that we experience rejection of our earliest creative efforts. I definitely know what that’s like, as I had a scarring experience with a creative writing teacher as a young adult. I was told that I wasn’t any good at writing and that I should find something else to do with my life, and so I stopped writing for seven years. I can only imagine how the situation would have been different for me if I’d had access to Jacob Nordby’s book at that time. I feel it’s safe to say I wouldn’t have lost those seven years.

The Creative Cure is for any creative person, no matter where they are on their path. You can have many years of experience with writing, or in the visual arts, or with acting, dancing, or any other type of creative self-expression, and still this book will speak to you. In contrast, you can also be a total newbie to the creative process, someone who has always wanted to be creative but has never known where to start, and this book will help you too. There are exercises and practices included with every chapter that are concrete and actionable and that can get even the most stuck person moving again.

I’m recommending this book to all of my clients and putting it on the “recommended reading” list for all my classes, along with such classics like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way and Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write. It is that good. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves self-help, personal growth, the psychology of creativity, personal development, and inspiring nonfiction that will really light a fire under you to change your life.