The Element - I get it; I love it; I want it: Where is it?

In my last blog on Sir Ken Robinson's book, The Element, I promised to share some more info on what Sir Ken defines as The Element.  Defining The Element will help us move to embracing it, moving to a point where we do the thing we love and can be our most authentic selves. 

Rhonda

Sir Ken tells us that The Element is different for everyone, but it has two main features (apitude and passion) and two conditions for being in it (attitude and opportunity).  The sequence is what I hinted at in the title of this blog - I get it; I love it; I want it; Where is it?

I get it

There was a commercial I used to love on television.  It featured young boys each doing something they were good at - playing sports, playing an instrument, etc.  The take-away message?  No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something.  That's the message that Sir Ken is trying to get at here.  We need to find our creative strengths (aka our aptitudes) before we can develop them.  In other words, "we don't know who we can be until we know what we can do."

I love it

Being good at something isn't enough.  You need to have passion for what you do - enough to imagine doing it for the rest of your life.  The example Sir Ken uses is a musician who was very good at keyboards.  When Ken told the musician that he wished he could play that way, he was taken aback when the musician replied, "No, you wouldn't."  As the musician pointed out, he spent many, many hours every day practicing.  Asked why, he simply replied, "Because I love it."  Not many of us could commit that time and energy to a task without the passion to go along with it.

I want it

Attitude is our perspective on ourselves and our circumstances.  People who love what they do describe themselves as lucky, and people who think they're unsuccessful often say they're unlucky.  Sir Ken believes that, "how we perceive our circumstances and how we create opportunities depends largely on what we expect of ourselves."

Where is it?

We can't know what our aptitudes are if we don't have the opportunities to explore them.  That could mean that we don't ever get to find our Element, but if we explore our apitutdes in different fields, our chances certainly increase.  Sometimes, we need people to help us recognize our real talents, and sometimes, we can help people disover theirs.  Look closely at the opportunities you have and the opportunities you create.

Tomorrow, thoughts on thinking differently and how we're intelligent.  Don't forget - if you're looking for wisdom directly from Sir Ken Robinson, he'll be in Halifax on April 23-24 as part of our conference on emergent learning!