Time to Rejuvenate

The semester is ending and as we begin counting the days down to a much-needed break, remember to take some time for yourself. During the break we relish in the time when there aren’t any papers to grade or meetings to attend. However, this is usually a time when many finish writing or begin to write. As a reminder, our brains need a break as well and when that time comes… stop and take some time for yourself. Some will take a walk, watch a mindless show or read a book. If reading is your outlet, here are a couple of books that will help to reenergize and inspire you.

The Element: How Finding your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility. Drawing on the stories of a wide range of people, including Paul McCartney, Matt Groening, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bart Conner, he shows that age and occupation are no barrier and that this is the essential strategy for transforming education, business, and communities in the twenty-first century.

A breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement from one of the world's leading thinkers on creativity and self-fulfillment.

Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson

From the Inside Flap

There is a paradox. As children, most of us think we are highly creative; as adults many of us think we are not. What changes as children grow up? Organizations across the globe are competing in a world that is changing faster than ever. They say they need people who can think creatively, who are flexible and quick to adapt. Too often they say they can't find them. Why not? In this provocative and inspiring book,

Ken Robinson addresses three vital questions:

•       Why is it essential to promote creativity? Business leaders, politicians and educators emphasize the vital importance of promoting creativity and innovation. Why does this matter so much?

•       What is the problem? Why do so many people think they're not creative? Young children are buzzing with ideas. What happens as we grow up and go through school to make us think we are not creative?

•       What can be done about it? What is creativity? What can companies; schools and organizations do to develop creativity and innovation in a deliberate and systematic way?

In this extensively revised and updated version of his bestselling classic, Out of Our Minds, Ken Robinson offers a groundbreaking approach to understanding creativity in education and in business. He argues that people and organizations everywhere are dealing with problems that originate in schools and universities and that many people leave education with no idea at all of their real creative abilities. Out of Our Minds is a passionate and powerful call for radically different approaches to leadership, teaching and professional development to help us all to meet the extraordinary challenges of living and working in the 21st century.