Truth, Love & Insight - Tara Gentile
Do you remember last week when I mentioned that I’m kicking off a new series? Well, today is the start of something that I hope will bring our community closer by providing a platform to share truth, love and insight. I am delighted to share my first interview with the truly inspiring Tara Gentile.
If there are heros, entrepreneurs, creatives, authors, artists, musicians and muses who you'd like to see featured in future Truth, Love & Insight interviews, please let me know!
I'm certain you will find that Tara's responses are as inspirational as they are thought provoking. A little more about Tara, in her own words:
Tara Gentile empowers passion-driven entrepreneurs to find the profit in producing the work of their true spirits. She is the author of the digital guide, The Art of Earning: Because Making Money Should Be Beautiful. To find out more & read her musings on building the New Economy with you at the center, visit her blog.
1. Why do you blog?
I started blogging in college. On Xanga. It was before blogging was a "thing."
I loved it. I loved having a platform for my words, an audience that listened, and friends that talked back. I blog to work through my own struggles, life philosophies, and ideas. I blog to share what I've learned and to learn what others have to share.
For me, blogging is an extended, collective narrative. It's a real participatory experience - not something you get enough of in the "real world."
2. What are your favorite creative resources?
My favorite creative resources are other people's blogs. I used to read a lot of books, philosophy, theology, dystopias, randon nonfiction. Now, whether it's just the pace of life or my shortened attention span, blogs provide me with the inspiration I need to continue creating on a daily basis.
My other favorite creative resource is my camera. I'm not even an amateur photographer but I love that my camera allows me to see the world in a different way. I use my camera to manipulate my experience of the world and that inspires me in a multitude of ways.
3. Who inspires you online? Offline?
Danielle Laporte, Susannah Conway, Kelly Diels, and all of the other women who are considering heavy questions and joyous living. I love being a part of this community!
Offline my inspirations are my mother and my daughter. They both teach me things about myself daily.
4. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give to yourself as a budding blogger?
Don't quit!! Seriously, I should have known that, for as much as I loved blogging, anything that took me away from it would be toxic to my life. And it was.
Had I continued blogging instead of taking years off, I would be so much better for it.
It seems to me that those who really succeed at blogging - or any kind of online entrepreneurism - are the ones that stick around.
5. What are your favorite things to do when you’re not online?
Play with Lola, watch science fiction, listen to NPR, and take long walks.
6. How do you make every day an extraordinary adventure?
I don't plan too much. I'm pretty spontaneous and I'm always open to the possibility of the day unfolding the opposite of the way I envisioned. Sure, I like schedules - but I also know that schedules are meant to be changed!
Some of my best adventures - and creative ideas - have come from being spontaneous. Now, spontaneity is the luxury I've worked hard to guarantee myself. But I think it's something that anyone can incorporate into their lives. To have an extraordinary adventure you have to first be open to the possibility of one unfolding right before your eyes!
