The first time I heard the phrase “in your element”, I was about 20 years old and visiting a history museum with my mom. At one point during our visit she turned to me and said, “You’re really in your element here.” At the time I just smiled and thought, “I wonder what she means by that?”
Years later I am reading The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson and remembering that day – finally getting what my mom was trying to say to me. Pity I didn’t get it – and she didn’t elaborate then!
Mom was right. I was “in my element” in that museum – anything having to do with history gets my juices flowing. And that is the essence of what The Element is all about.
Ken Robinson defines The Element in several ways, as:
“…the meeting point between natural aptitude and personal passion.”
“…not simply about laughter, good times, sunsets and parties…”“Being (in The Element) provides a sense of self-revelation, of defining who we really are and what we’re meant to be doing with our lives.”
“We live in the moment. We become lost in the experience and perform at our peak.”
What wouldn’t you give to find that place for yourself?
How powerful could each of us be if we live in our Element?
What would be out of reach to us?
What would our world – and the world around us – look like if we all lived in our Element?
Kind of exciting stuff, would you agree?
In The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, Mr. Robinson offers some surprising and inspiring examples of famous and not-so-famous people who’ve found their element. Through these examples, the author guides us on our own quest.
Chapters with titles such as, “Finding Your Tribe”, “What Will They Think?” and “Is It Too Late?” offer advice, insight and best of all – encouragement, helping the reader to quash any apprehensions about diving full steam into the search for our personal Element.
The ideas of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything are both personal and global. Robinson contends that finding your Element is a personal quest with global implications. He challenges us to start thinking about creativity as not just “OK”, but essential. We should revel in our differences and not feel compelled by those around us to conform. When we start thinking about our own potential without any boundaries, our lives and the lives of all around us can and will change.
Bottom line of The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything: We can be all that we dream. And we should be all that we dream.
A good book jump starts you on new paths of discovery. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything is just that sort of good book.
The Element - How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson
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