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| "Find Your Passion" - photo credit Jan Bowman - 2012 |
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The
Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
by
Ken Robinson, Ph.D.
Laura says:
I feel happiest reading about people
who love what they do. Their creativity ignites new ways of thinking, being,
and achieving. In The Element: How Finding
Your Passion Changes Everything, Ken Robinson, Ph.D. warmheartedly
shares stories of people who attain the Element—where natural talent meets
personal passion.
Drawing from diverse fields, Robinson offers many examples: Meg Ryan, Paul
McCartney, Julia Child, Sir Ridley Scott, photographer Gordon Parks, Hip-hop
poet Black Ice, trumpeter Miles Davis, political commentator Arianna
Huffington, artist Chuck Close, drummer Mick Fleetwood, Matt Groening—creator
of “The Simpsons,” and dancer Gillian Lynne—choreographer of Cats
and Phantom of the Opera.
Each learned to engage in the
Element, focusing intently to be in the “zone” with no sense of time passing;
gathering in “tribes” who share this focus; and finding mentors who facilitate
development.
“Being in your Element, having that experience of flow, is
empowering. Feeling deeply connected … through a sense of relaxing, of
feeling perfectly natural to be doing what you’re doing…is a profound sense of
being in your skin, of connecting to your own internal pulse or energy. … When
we connect with our own energy, we’re more open to the energy of other people.
The more alive we feel, the more we can contribute to the lives of others.”
[pp. 93-94]
[After reading this book] I'm asking myself key questions to
kindle the Element:
“How
am I intelligent?” [p.42]
“When
I'm not worried about making a living or what others think of me:
What am I most drawn to doing?
What activities do I engage in voluntarily?
What absorbs me most?
What sorts of questions do I ask?" [p. 102]
Dr. Robinson advocates for educators
to encourage individual learning in interdisciplinary activities. Rather than
breaking curriculum into a hierarchy of unrelated subjects and mandating
assessment tools that generate conformity, he encourages educational
transformation. Let’s spark creativity, confidence and imagination to sustain
life well on our small and crowding planet.
Laura A. Mueller, M.Ac., L.Ac.
410-707-1394
www.lauramueller.com
Acupuncture & Zero Balancing©
Feel free to comment on the blog site or contact Laura, if you'd like to write to her about this review. Laura A. Mueller, M.Ac., L.Ac.
410-707-1394
www.lauramueller.com
Acupuncture & Zero Balancing©
REMEMBER - YOU'RE INVITED -
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Write a couple of paragraphs if you would like to talk about a book. Don't worry about being particularly academic. This is not intended to be a formal review, unless you really long to write one, and in any case - write what you wish from your own impressions and reactions. Then send an email to me. I will collect these, edit a bit, if necessary, before posting your comments on the first Tuesday of the month under the title: READERS TALK.
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Jan Bowman’s work has
appeared in Roanoke Review, Big Muddy,
Broadkill Review, Trajectory, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato
Eyes, and others. She won the 2012
Roanoke Review Prize for Fiction. Her
stories have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories
and a story was a finalist in the “So To
Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two
collections of short stories and currently shopping for a publisher for a
completed story collection. She has nonfiction work pending publication in Spring
2013 Issues of Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of
“Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and
publishers. Learn more at:
Website – www.janbowmanwriter.com
Blogsite – http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com
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