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effervescentsoul 's review for:
The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
by Ken Robinson
I checked this out of the library because I was looking for interesting audiobooks and the name caught my eye. It wasn't until I started listening that I recognized the author from a TED talk he had given a few years back- (If you haven't seen it, look it up. It is absolutely worth the 20 minutes.)
I found this book to be inspirational, entertaining, and intimidating- all at the same time. Robinson is a good storyteller, and the book is chock full of interesting anecdotes of both famous and not-so-famous people who lived happy lives because they found their element.
What is the element? Robinson says: "The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion." By finding and nurturing this quality, we can ignite our creativity, and bring more vitality and passion to our lives and to the world.
Robinson tells many stories of famous folk who are famous mostly because they found their passion early and were able to follow where that passion led. I found this part intimidating; how could I ever be like John Lennon, or Ray Charles, or Richard Feynman? He answered this question by many tales of not-so-famous folk, folk who discovered the element late in life, or who do work other than their passion to pay the bills. These people were particularly interesting, as it was very clear that the fact that they invested energy into their passion helped them with the other work in their lives that they were not quite so passionate about.
As an educator, he really stressed the importance of discovering and nurturing these passions in our youth. He points out that the jobs of the future may not have even been invented yet, and that teaching kids a set of facts will not necessarily prepare them for this unknown future. Rather, fostering innovation, creativity, and collaboration can help them be ready for whatever the future brings.
I enjoyed this book as an audiobook. Robinson reads it himself, and his British accent made the stories all the more enjoyable.
I found this book to be inspirational, entertaining, and intimidating- all at the same time. Robinson is a good storyteller, and the book is chock full of interesting anecdotes of both famous and not-so-famous people who lived happy lives because they found their element.
What is the element? Robinson says: "The element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion." By finding and nurturing this quality, we can ignite our creativity, and bring more vitality and passion to our lives and to the world.
Robinson tells many stories of famous folk who are famous mostly because they found their passion early and were able to follow where that passion led. I found this part intimidating; how could I ever be like John Lennon, or Ray Charles, or Richard Feynman? He answered this question by many tales of not-so-famous folk, folk who discovered the element late in life, or who do work other than their passion to pay the bills. These people were particularly interesting, as it was very clear that the fact that they invested energy into their passion helped them with the other work in their lives that they were not quite so passionate about.
As an educator, he really stressed the importance of discovering and nurturing these passions in our youth. He points out that the jobs of the future may not have even been invented yet, and that teaching kids a set of facts will not necessarily prepare them for this unknown future. Rather, fostering innovation, creativity, and collaboration can help them be ready for whatever the future brings.
I enjoyed this book as an audiobook. Robinson reads it himself, and his British accent made the stories all the more enjoyable.