CONSTANCE RHODES
(continued from "Author Spotlight" on home page)

Constance Rhodes is the founder and executive director of FINDINGbalance (www.findingbalance.com), a faith-based organization dedicated to eating, image, and lifestyle management issues. She is also the author of Life Inside the “Thin” Cage: A Personal Look into the Hidden World of the Chronic Dieter.

A former marketing director for Sparrow Records, a division of EMI Music, Constance was led to pursue this compilation by her appreciation for the work of contemporary artists.

Here, Constance writes of her vision for her upcoming book, The Art of Being:

In August of 2000 I resigned my position as Marketing Director for Sparrow Records, a division of EMI Music. It wasn't that I didn't love my job - I was actually quite proud to be in the role that I was in. I loved the creative process, and felt privileged to represent such talented artists at Nichole Nordeman, Steven Curtis Chapman and Switchfoot.

But the truth was that after six fast-paced years in the Christian music industry, I had become so dependent on my position and title to feel validated that my priorities were all out of whack. I was also just coming to terms with what had been a decade long struggle with disordered eating - a struggle exacerbated by the constant focus on appearance that is prominent in the music industry.

As I walked away from what had been a successful career, I sensed God challenging me, "Don't do, just be." It was a tough challenge, but one that changed my life.

Two years after leaving Sparrow I released my first book"Life Inside the Thin Cage,"which addresses the difficult struggle so many of us have with eating and weight issues. In the book, one of the keys to breaking free was this concept of the so-called 'art of being'.

Because of the incredible impact this concept has had in my own life, it is an honor and a privilege to now explore this concept more deeply, with the help of several gifted communicators who have in some way wrestled with it themselves.

It is our collective desire that you might be inspired to consider how your life would be different if you could find the courage to embrace who you are, without the 'stuff' of life, and to pursue the ever elusive art of being.

The Art of Being with foreward by Charlie Peacock, to be released in September 2004. Look for it soon in bookstores everywhere!