Austin Kleon pretty much starts out his book with the concept by Honore de Balzac: "For artists, the great problem to solve is how to get oneself noticed" and I feel like this really applies to me and cheesily ties into Kleon's title Show Your Work. Just SHOW YOUR WORK. This is something that a lot of people have a hard time doing. I know for me specifically, I was always that person in the back of every creative writing class I've ever taken finding excuses like "It's not finished," "It's too short," "It's too long," or my personal favorite--"I don't think I did the assignment right."

"The world is changing at such a rapid rate that it's turning us all into amateurs." - Austin Kleon, Show Your Work, pg. 18

Although this was mentioned in the Calendar, I have to agree that the most interensting part to jump out at me was Austin Kleon’s discussion on amateurs. He mentions that, “creativity is always, in some sense, a collaboration, the result of a mind connected to other minds,” making even famous people such as Beethoven and Ghandi seem just as human and relatable as us (page 11). This makes it easier for me to write poetry and then present it to the rest of my workshop class. Kleon makes it seem like it is acceptable and even productive to share your creativity process with others among you so that you learn and can progress. He says, “Amateurs are not afraid to make mistakes or look ridiculous in public.

I’m an amateur traveler. I can figure my way from point A to be B better than most, walk through several airport concourses with the familiarity and comfort of a second home, and know what brand of champagne is cheapest in several different countries. On the other hand, my sense of direction is sometimes seriously lacking, my complete lack of coordination results in many accidents, and I have seen maybe 1% of this Earth. I am an amateur because I still have an infinite number of things to learn. I am an amateur because traveling is my passion.