ENGLISH VERSION
What is the best thing that I love about my work?
I love the freedom it gives me. Being able to work from home, in the daytime or at night, according not only to inspiration but also to housework and family managment.
What is my idea of perfect happiness?
I think happiness is made of moments and crumbles we have to spot and pick every day. When we get them we are perfectly happy for a while, till the next moment.
What is my greatest fear?
Boredom. I cannot stand losing my time after boring things, activities and people. I’ll put all my efforts on keeping them away from my life as I will do with spiders if I had aracnophobia.
What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?
Impatience and its consequences. I’m also a bit of a moody person that not helps much when you have to deal with many people.
Which living persons in my profession do I most admire?
None in particular, but I like most those who are responsible and have a clear conscience.
What is my greatest extravagance?
Thoughts: they run fast, taking me where I’ve never been to. In my fantasy I can meet people I’d like to know in person and do something I’ve never done. Then,I try to turn them into reality.
On what occasion would I lie?
I only lie to people who cannot accept the truth.
What is the thing that I dislike the most in my work?
The attitude of some presumptuous, arrogant and superficial colleagues who make me feel ashamed of being part of the press category.
When and where was I the happiest in my job?
Once I was working on a TV program, which turned out to be just a big game. That time I felt free and happy and I quite forgot I was working.
If I could, what would I change about myself?
Of course I’m not flawless. Knowing myself is just the starting point and I work on being a better person every day.
What is my greatest achievement in my job?
The next one.
Where would I most like to live?
In Genoa, my hometown. I have traveled far and wide. I loved Jerusalem and London, New York and Prague, Delhi and Istanbul but if asked I would always choose Genoa.
What is my most treasured possession?
My family.
What is my most marked characteristic?
I am a perfectionist. In everything I do I pursue perfection. If I think there’s something to improve, I can’t sleep at night thinking about a solution. I‘m also very practical and organized.
What is my most inspirational location, in my hometown?
Genoa is built on the sea and the seaside is my favorite spot because of the emotions it moves, especially in winter.
Which is my favorite place to eat and drink in my hometown?
I’m not a gourmand and I don’t love fish but having dinner in any restaurant on the gulf is always worth it. In my opinion Boccadasse is the right place to enjoy both the food and the view.
Which books influenced my life and how?
Every book I read was a step I took on my path of being a writer. “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett made me think about my prejudices and help me to realize how hard is to build a perfect plot.
Who are my favorite writers?
I used to be a book nerd and believed in reading the classical first, from Homer to Dante through Dostoevskij.
You Only Die Once. What music would I listen on my last day?
The sound of voices of my loved ones.
Who is my hero or heroine in fiction?
How can‘t we love Miss Rossella O’Hara? Beautiful, flirtatious, and also determined and strong, willing to do anything to save “her land”.
Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?
The common people, the ones who don’t bend, who go on with courage and perseverance, those who do not compromise and have strong personality.
Which movie would I recommend to watch once in a lifetime?
“John Q” with Denzel Washington to understand true love, “Pretty Woman” because of the plot and “Grease” to always feel young.
What role plays art in my life and work?
Art is the lead in Italy. Harmony, beauty and education are the basic ingredients for the recipe of life.
Who would be my greatest fan and sponsor?
Needless to say , it’s my mom. Moms are always on the side of their children. They are the ones who build children’s self confidence which is the main tool to achieve success with.
Whom would I like to work with in 2018?
There’s nobody in particular. New collaborations are always interesting and this is why I’m always open to new projects and new people.
Which people in my profession would I love to meet in 2018?
I have a game of cards yet to finish with Maurizio Costanzo.
What project am I looking forward to working on in 2018?
Editing my new book. I hope to find the right publisher and send it to the press as soon as possible.
Where can you find me and my works in 2018?
In all Italian newsstands.
What does the sentence “Passion Never Retires” mean to me?
Don’t fight passion, but follow it. We cannot escape feelings even if we try hard because they keep coming back, looking for us. They‘ll find us eventually so we better surrender.
Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story?
The writer Sara Rattaro, extraordinary woman and mother.
How can you contact me?
Email to: laviazzina@gmail.com
VERSIONE IN ITALIANO
Qual è la cosa che amo di più del mio lavoro?
Amo la libertà che mi dà. Potere lavorare anche da casa, di giorno o di notte a seconda delle necessità e dell’ispirazione.
Qual è la mia idea di perfetta felicità?
In realtà non sono convinta che esista la felicità vera e propria, ma solo delle sfumature, degli istanti. La perfezione sta nel riuscire a coglierli e viverli appieno.
Qual è la mia più grande paura?
La noia. Non sopporto di perdere il mio tempo dietro a cose, attività e persone noiose. La mia paura è proprio quella di non riuscire a tenerle lontane dalla mia vita. Perché in realtà sono molto disponibile.
Qual è il tratto che deploro di più in me stesso?
L’impazienza e le sue conseguenze. E la lunaticità che a volte rende poco obiettivi.
Quali persone viventi nella mia professione ammiro di più?
Non faccio nomi, ma tutti quelli hanno la coscienza a posto…
Qual è la mia più grande stravaganza?
I pensieri, corrono veloci e vanno dove vogliono, mi portano in posti mai visitati, mi fanno incontrare persone inaspettate e fare cose inaudite. E il bello è che poi li cerco di trasformare in realtà.
In quale occasione dovrei mentire?
Non bisognerebbe mentire mai, ma alle volte è inevitabile. Soprattutto quando gli altri non sanno accettare la verità.
Qual è la cosa che non mi piace nel mio lavoro?
L’atteggiamento di alcuni colleghi presuntuosi, arroganti e superficiali che a volte mi fanno vergognare di far parte della categoria.
Quando e dove ero io il più felice, nel mio lavoro?
Quando lavoravo in televisione ho vissuto la stagione più spensierata. Alla fine era un grande gioco, non riuscivo a considerarlo davvero un lavoro.
Se potessi, cosa cambierei di me stesso?
Ne cambierei tantissime di cose, ma poi non sarei più io! E allora come si fa? Solo nell’imperfezione si riesce ad essere unici.
Qual è il mio più grande successo nel lavoro?
Il prossimo.
Dove mi piacerebbe più vivere?
A Genova, la mia città. Ho girato il mondo. Ho amato Gerusalemme e Londra, New York e Praga, Delhi e Istanbul, ma alla fine sceglierei sempre Genova.
Qual è il mio tesoro più prezioso?
La mia famiglia.
Qual è la mia caratteristica più marcata?
Sono una perfezionista. Quando provo a fare qualcosa cerco sempre la perfezione, che poi alla fine è soggettiva, ma se mi sembra che ci siano delle cose da migliorare sono capace a non dormire la notte per pensare ad una soluzione. E ho un forte senso pratico e organizzativo.
Qual è la posizione più stimolante nella mia città?
Davanti al mare. Genova è il mare. Chi non vive in una città di mare non può capire le emozioni che riesce a risvegliare in ogni momento dell’anno. E se devo dire lo preferisco d’inverno.
Qual è il mio posto preferito per mangiare e bere, nella mia città?
Non sono una buongustaia e non amo il pesce, però la cena con vista sul golfo merita sempre. Quindi direi in un qualsiasi ristorante di Boccadasse.
Quali libri hanno influenzato la mia vita e come?
Tutti quelli che ho letto. Sia quelli che ho apprezzato sia quelli che ho finito per forza, perché mi hanno insegnato e spronato a scrivere. Ma “I pilastri della terra” di Ken Follett (che mi ero sempre rifiutata di leggere) mi hanno insegnato che prima di giudicare bisogna conoscere. Pochi sanno costruire una trama perfetta come sa fare lui
Chi sono i miei scrittori preferiti?
Sono stata una lettrice incallita. Adesso il tempo scarseggia e leggo molto meno. Diciamo che si deve partire dai grandi classici da Omero a Dante a Dostoevskij. Come in tutte le cose prima è meglio fondare le basi.
Si muore solo una volta. Che musica vorrei ascoltare il tuo ultimo giorno?
Il suono della voce dei miei cari.
Chi è il mio eroe o eroina nella finzione?
Come non amare Miss Rossella O’Hara. Bella, civettuola, ma alla fine determinata e volitiva disposta a tutto pur di salvare la “sua terra”?
Chi sono i miei eroi e le mie eroine nella vita reale?
Tutte le persone che non permettono alla vita di piegarle, ma continuano con coraggio e perseveranza la propria strada. Gli onesti, quelli che non scendono a compromessi, quelli che hanno personalità.
Quale film consiglierei di vedere una volta nella vita?
“John Q” con Denzel Washington per comprendere il vero amore. “Pretty Woman” per la favola e “Grease” per sentirsi sempre giovani.
Quale ruolo gioca l’arte nella mia vita e nel mio lavoro?
L’arte è la protagonista di tutto. L’educazione all’armonia, al bello è l’ingrediente base per la ricetta della vita
Chi è il mio più grande fan, sponsor, socio?
Inutile dirlo… la mamma. Le mamme quando amano sono sempre dalla parte dei figli… Certe volte finiscono per essere poco obiettive, ma infondere sicurezza, autostima e fiducia è la strategia vincente per arrivare al successo.
Con chi mi piacerebbe lavorare nel 2018?
Le nuove collaborazioni sono sempre uno stimolo, quindi sono sempre aperta a nuovi progetti. Le affinità si scoprono solo sul campo.
Quali persone nella mia professione mi piacerebbe incontrare nel 2018?
Ho una partita a carte da finire con Maurizio Costanzo.
A quale progetto, nel 2018, non vedo l’ora di lavorare?
All’editing del mio nuovo libro. Spero di trovare l’editore giusto e di mandarlo in stampa al più presto.
Dove puoi vedere me o il mio lavoro nel 2018?
In tutte le edicole italiane.
Cosa significano per me le parole “Passion Never Retires”?
Che non si deve lottare contro le passioni, ma seguirle; tanto non abbiamo scampo se proviamo a nasconderci ci vengono a cercare. E prima o poi ci trovano.
Quali eroine creative dovrebbe Peter invitare a raccontare la loro storia?
Sara Rattaro una scrittrice, una donna e una mamma fuori dal comune.
Come puoi contattarmi?
Alla mia mail laviazzina@gmail.com
Here follows a message of Peter de Kuster, the founder of the Heroine’s Journey
The Heroine’s Journey Conference 2018 – Rome
The Heroine’s Journey is coming to Rome. We are bringing The Heroine’s Journey Conference to the vibrant city of Rome on 12-14 October with a transformative and properly entertaining three-day event on the most important ideas we teach. Our conference aims to transform lives and build the best kinds of connections. It is designed to equip participants with a toolkit of creative entrepreneur skills that can revolutionise relationships, careers and self-understanding.
What to Expect
Our conference is hugely memorable and distinctive. For a start, you are not being taught in entirely standard ways. Peter de Kuster and his team of coaches on stage don’t merely lecture to a passive audience; they invite almost continuous interaction, getting participants to look inside themselves, to complete a variety of exercises and to share their stories with others.
Talks are peppered with films, art, pieces of literature, pieces of music and visual prompts; all the senses are properly stimulated to keep the mind fresh and receptive. Furthermore, there is an enormous emphasis on friendship. We are not merely seated quietly on our own, isolated from other participants. We are guided to mingle, form smaller and larger groups and reveal meaningful things to one another. It is impossible to leave after three days without having made quite a few firm friends.
Conference Leaders
The Conference, led by The Heroine’s Journey founder Peter de Kuster together with a team of coaches specialized in working with creative people takes participants through a three-day immersive experience.
Programme Details
Day 1 FridayThe Heroine’s Journey: Career Management for the Creative Person.
We begin with a look at what the life and career of a creative professional is, how it can be taught – and what we can acquire of it in the days ahead. We consider our particular position in history: living with the desire for creative fulfilment and career success – and we propose that The Heroine’s Journey has a distinctive set of answers to the opportunities, disappointments and dreams of our time.
We identify that a core task of any creative professional is to achieve self-knowledge. To this end, we take you on a journey around your own mind, paying particular attention to the stories you tell yourself about you, your creative work, your time, your money, your self promotion, your relations. Which of these stories brings you to what you want and which of these stories has to be rewritten, transforming in the process your business and life?
Next we consider your meetings with others – clients, friends, business partners. We admit to our longing for sincere connection with others, but also to the challenges of finding this. We learn about the art of connecting, about ways to listen to others fruitfully and how to overcome barriers to intimacy. We teach strategies that help remove excessive superficial contact from our lives, and put all these into practice at a social event with our newfound acquaintances to close the day.
Day 2 Saturday Morning The Power of your Story
On our second day we study why we have the creative career we do – and how our early experiences give us scripts of what, how and whom we are passionate about in our creative career. We learn that there are always more possible paths in your creative career than we initially believe and that we can broaden our unconscious scripts of how we can make money doing what we love by understanding our past stories more clearly.
We also look at the techniques that can make creative careers work in the long term. The Heroine’s Journey firmly believes that passion is ultimately a skill, not an emotion. We learn about how to communicate, how not to sulk, how to allow others to get close to us, how to understand and explain our distinctive way of creating, how to promote ourself and our creations, how to negotiate conflicts through humour and how to deal with conflicts and awkward desires.
We’re reminded that many of the answers we need are within us already, waiting for the correct story to extract them.
Day 2 Saturday Afternoon Creative Confidence
We move on to consider the emotional dimension of our work; what impels us to want to do a certain sort of creative work, and why it is often so hard to align our emotional desires with our practical requirements. We explore our working personalities and sift through our authentic interests.
We consider a variety of blocks and inhibitions which prevent us from pushing forward with our hunches, with particular attention paid to parental and societal expectations.
We pay particular attention to the idea of creative confidence. The difference between success and failure often hangs on this almost humiliatingly small and elusive concept that standard education never touches. We spend vast amounts of time acquiring confidence in narrow professional fields, but we overlook the primordial need to acquire a more free-ranging variety of confidence which can serve us across a range of tasks in professional, but also in personal, life.
Day 3 Sunday They Created Happily Ever After
Passion has a natural and deep appeal. Most of us long to be more passionate and creatively confident, unruffled, at ease and capable of reacting with quiet good humour to life’s setbacks and irritants. But we are often still only at the very beginning of knowing how to be passionate and confident. This morning will give us a range of the most effective answers.
Next we consider passion & happiness. A passionate life is close to, but at points importantly different from, a happy life. It draws upon and exercises our higher capacities, for example, tenderness, care, connection, self-understanding, sympathy, intelligence and creativity. We investigate how to orientate our lives in a more happy direction.
In our final hours together, we go back over the journey we have been on and recap its most fundamental lessons.
Timetable
Who Should Attend The Heroine’s Journey Conference
The Heroine’s Journey Conference is ideal for those looking for an in-depth experience that covers three main areas of our creative lives; Career Management, Creative Confidence, Happiness.
What you can expect:
-
A rich programme drawing from the key insights across our core curriculum
-
A learning experience combining lectures, films, music, art, exercises and continuous audience participation
-
Three-days of engaging content written and led by storyteller and writer Peter de Kuster, supported by inspiring coaches specialized in working with creative professionals
-
Daily educational programme and curated morning and evening social activities
-
An opportunity to make new friends in a community of like-minded individuals
The Heroine’s Journey Conference 2018 – Rome
Early Bird Price:
Euro 999 (Standard Price Euro 1099) excluding VAT
How to book:
Send us a mail at peterdekuster@hotmail.nl
The Heroine's Journey 