Whatever it is you are pursuing, whatever it is you are seeking, whatever it is you are creating, be careful not to quit too soon. As my friend Pastor Rob Bell warns: “Don’t rush through the experiences and circumstances that have the most capacity to transform you.”

Life is a labyrinth where an end could be a beginning or there could be multiple paths to reach a particular point. The universe has hidden deep jewels within us and the hunt that we must embark on to uncover those hidden jewels is called creative living. The result of that hunt is what is called ‘Big Magic’

'Big Magic'

<ol><li>Courage</li><li>Enchantment</li><li>Permission</li><li>Persistence</li><li>Trust.</li></ol>

Elements of Creativity 

Fear is boring in the sense that it manifests in the same way every day. There is no variety to it. It never changes or isn’t able to spark any interest or delight. Once we understand the true nature of fear we don’t need to be afraid anymore. We must cultivate the courage to embark on creative journey by making space for fear. Courage is not fearlessness i.e the absence of fear but rather living alongside fear by making space for it to exist but never let it take the driving seat.

Courage.

As per Gilbert, the universe is inhabited not just by humans ,animals but also ideas. These ideas are conscious and have a will be manifested by collaborating with a human. These ideas come in the form of an inspiration and if they are not tapped into they fade away and look for another human for manifestation.

How Ideas Work?

<ul><li>You don’t need anyone’s permission to live creatively. Why do you seek permission? You are entitled to live a life the way you want. You have the right to assert yourself just because you are born and alive.</li><li>The creative endeavour should not be to help others but to help one’s own self. It’s also okay to not have any motive whatsoever.</li><li>The paradox of creativity is that we need to make art as the most important thing that we do but at the same time it shouldn’t matter to us way too much. Make space in your life for this paradox to happily exist.</li></ul>

Permission

<ul><li>There is no age limit when you can make a start at something. As long as you stick around the different phases (frustration and disappointment) of the creative process you are fine. You are learning.</li><li>There is never going to be enough time and resources to make art possible but one needs to take that time out and work on their creative pursuits.</li><li>Fall in love with your creativity and you will find/make time for it.</li><li>Make your self look presentable to attract and invite creativity.</li><li>Perfection is the enemy of the good. Don’t hold yourself back because one is not perfect. Embrace imperfections.</li></ul>

Persistence.

<ul><li>We are co-creators of life and we collaborate with mother nature to create life through reciprocation of its services</li><li>Gilbert argues that you need to trust love over suffering to be artistic.</li><li>When you not feeling inspired or passionate about creativity then being curious is the antidote. Find clues to whatever interests you and creativity will find you eventually</li><li>Ego demands rewards and satisfaction which is always elusive and there is no ending to it while soul desires ‘wonder’ and when we take refuge in the soul our ego remains silent or under control.</li><li>Don’t dwell on disappointments.</li></ul>

Trust.

Gives me an insight into the creative process and what it takes to make art 🎨

The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller "A must read for anyone hoping to live a creative life... I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious.” —PopSugar From the worldwide bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of. Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

philosophy

Philosophy

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

creativity

Creativity

books

Books

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller "A must read for anyone hoping to live a creative life... I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious.” —PopSugar From the worldwide bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of.   Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work,  embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

Elizabeth Gilbert is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Elizabeth Gilbert has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Elizabeth Gilbert's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Elizabeth Gilbert

Big Magic

“A wise man can learn more from his enemies than a fool from his friends.”

“Life is not the amount of breaths you take. It’s the moments that take your breath away.”

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

“Do, or do not. There is no “try”.”

“Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”

We put together some of our favourite lines from films to help you stay positive no matter what challenges you might be facing.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

movies

Movies & Shows

Inspirational Movie Quotes

Sometimes, achieving something is about quantity over quality, not the other way around. I’ve asked wedding photographers how they manage to capture such perfect moments. They all say the same type of thing: “I just take way more pictures. I’ll take a thousand pictures over a three-hour wedding. That’s a picture every 10 seconds. Of course, I’m going to have 50 good ones. I’m throwing 950 pictures away to find them!”

When Everything Rests On The Numbers

Today, we’re surrounded by tales of companies with million-dollar valuations that grow at lightning-fast rates. We hear about tiny startups that Google acquires for billions of dollars, just a few months after launch. We want to read about the fastest way to get a six-pack or accelerate our careers. But ultimately, what we want to find—quick fixes, easy answers, shortcuts—isn’t there.Some things take time. They take time. They just take time. It’s not about the number of hits but rather the number of times you step up to the plate.

We Cannot Hack Our Way To Success

“The number of failures I’ve had dramatically exceeds most people’s, and I’m super proud of that. I’m more proud of the failures than the successes because it’s about this mantra of ‘Is this generous? Is this going to connect? Is this going to change people for the better? Is it worth trying?’ If it meets those criteria and I can cajole myself into doing it, then I ought to.”

“I’m A Big Fan Of Poof”

We need to stop looking at successful people through the lens that their lives contain a success that led to a success that led to another success. Because you know what we’re really looking at? Not success, not really. Just people who are just really good at moving through failures.Moving through failures, swimming through failure, recovering and going forward from failure? That’s the real success. Successful people get to where they’re going because they are willing to try something when the possibility of failure is high … they know and accept that and don’t shy away from it.

Success Stories Are Not Stories Of Success  

Why would the guy with the most wins also have the most losses? Why would the guy with the most strikeouts also have the most walks? It’s simple—they just played the most. They tried the most and moved through loss the most.

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

business

Business

startup

Startups

Take More Pictures: The counterintuitive way to build resilience — Neil Pasricha

Problem-solving and decision-making are crucial for leaders and high-achievers. These skills lead to better results and can boost career advancement and higher salaries.
Success is often defined by the ability to solve problems effectively. Fortunately, these skills can be developed through practice and by tapping into the potential of the mind.
Take the opportunity to enhance your problem-solving and decision-making abilities to achieve better results and reach new heights in your career.

Problem-solving skills.

Clearly understand what exactly is the problem. 
Get the real facts, not the apparent facts or the obvious facts but the real facts of the situation. It's amazing how much time and energy is wasted every day attempting to solve problems when the people involved are not even clear about what the problem is in the first place step.

#1 Define the problem.

How and why did it happen sometimes this exercise alone will suggest a solution. And remember there's a direct relationship between the number of reasons that you come up with it's understanding the origin of the problem and the likelihood that a solution will pop out.

#2 Ask what all the possible causes of this problem are.

The more possible solutions you can come up with, the more likely it is that you will come up with the ideal solution.

#3  ask what all the possible solutions are.

Any decision is usually better than no decision at all.In fact, 80% of problems should be solved the moment they come up only about 20% of problems need time and deliberation, and extra research.

#4 Make a decision.

Who exactly is going to do what and when and to what standard if it's you determine when you're going to do it and to what standards you're going to achieve it.

#5 Assign responsibility for carrying out the decision.

A solution without a standard or deadline is really not a solution at all it's merely a discussion. So, we need to set a schedule of reporting and a standard to measure whether or not the decision has been successful.

#6 Set a schedule for progress.

To implement the solution and resolve the problem remember action is everything the more you focus on solutions.The smarter you become and the better solutions you come up with the people who are the best at problem-solving are the highest-paid and fastest promoted in any organization.

#7 Task yourself or someone else with taking definite action

Once again, here's a seven-step method that you can use for the rest of your career to deal effectively with any problem that comes along it's like a recipe that you can use in the kitchen that will bring you an excellent dish every single time. Steps________________#1 Define the problem.#2 Ask what all the possible causes of this problem are.#3 Ask what all the possible solutions are.#4 Make a decision.#5 Assign responsibility for carrying out the decision.#6 Set a schedule for progress.#7 Task yourself or someone else with taking definite action.

Steps for Problem-solving skills.

All of life is a series of problems to be solved and difficulties to be overcome.Though problem-solving skills couldn't be solved in one way, we hope all the existing problems could be vanished by using these steps, and for more complex/unknown problems, one must have to do some research.Visit my previous stash tapping --> <a href="https://dsta.sh/WwQ1enkNPELFVBRf6">How to use our time more intentionally?</a>You can find me at <a href="https://twitter.com/saoirseblr?t=fplf8Ltp57OB1lms-7xbbw&s=09">@saoirseblr.</a>

Hope these stashes are useful.

How to become solution oriented in your approach toward life and work? These stashes describes a way to develop a skill to solve problems.

Click here http://www.briantracy.com/youtube to receive FREE gifts, newsletters and promotions! Life is a series of problems to be solved and difficulties to overcome. Your problem solving abilities are essential to getting paid more and promoted faster. Success is the ability to make a decision and achieve an ideal solution. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1lt6pwIF1o _____________ CONNECT WITH ME: full site http://www.briantracy.com/YouTube twitter http://www.twitter.com/BrianTracy facebook http://www.facebook.com/BrianTracyPage Google+ http://plus.google.com/+briantracy pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/BrianTracy instagram @TheBrianTracy blog site http://www.briantracy.com/blog/ Subscribe to my channel! http://youtube.com/BrianTracySpeaker _____________

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Podcasts

Click here  http://www.briantracy.com/youtube to receive FREE gifts, newsletters and promotions!

Life is a series of problems to be solved and difficulties to overcome. Your problem solving abilities are essential to getting paid more and promoted faster. Success is the ability to make a decision and achieve an ideal solution. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1lt6pwIF1o

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Brian Tracy is the most listened to audio author on personal and business success in the world today. His fast-moving talks and seminars on leadership, sales, managerial effectiveness and business strategy are loaded with powerful, proven ideas and strategies that people can immediately apply to get better results in every area.

Brian Tracy

Improve Your Problem Solving Skills

How To Improve Your Problem Solving Skills

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38390751-the-infinite-game">The Infinite Game </a>argues that business is not a competition but an infinite journey, and that to do well in it, leaders must advance a “Just Cause,” build trusting teams, learn from their “Worthy Rivals,” and practice existential flexibility.

Book Summary 

"Our lives are finite, but life is infinite. We are the finite players in the infinite dame of life. We come and go, we're born and we die, and life still continues with or without us."-Simon Sinek

Author Quote 

At one point, both <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/steve-jobs-summary/">Apple </a>and <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/hit-refresh-summary/">Microsoft </a>invited <a href="https://simonsinek.com/simons-bio/">Simon Sinek </a>to present at their education summits within the span of a few months. Comparing the two experiences after the fact, Sinek noticed something: “At the Microsoft event, the majority of the presenters devoted a good portion of their presentations to talking about how they were going to beat Apple. At the Apple event, 100% of the presenters spent 100% of their time talking about how Apple was trying to help teachers teach and help students learn.”

Book Overview 

This marks the difference between a company that thinks with a finite mindset and one that thinks with an infinite mindset. The concept stems from a 1984 book by James Carse, called <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/finite-and-infinite-games-summary/">Finite and Infinite Games </a>. In <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38390751-the-infinite-game">The Infinite Game </a>, Sinek applies the concept to business.

Infinite-minded companies last longer, achieve more, and are generally kinder and more beneficial to the world. Maintaining this mindset requires following a continuous, five-step cycle, Sinek says:<ol><li>Advance a “Just Cause”</li><li>Build trusting teams</li><li>Learn from your “Worthy Rivals”</li><li>Practice existential flexibility</li><li>Demonstrate the courage to lead</li></ol>

<ol><li>There are finite and infinite games. Business is an infinite game and must therefore be played as such. </li><li>A Just Cause is an appealing vision of the future that pulls people in, and it must satisfy 5 criteria to work. </li><li>Every infinite-minded business needs a Worthy Rival to learn from. </li> </ol>

Top 3 Book Ideas 

Soccer is an excellent example of a finite game. There’s a limited field on which the game is played. The rules are clear. There’s a set time for when the game begins and ends, a mechanism for keeping score, and a list of winners and losers after the fact. Naturally, finite games inspire short-term thinking. You have to win immediately , and the only way to win is to kick your opponent out of the game. Elections, casting shows, and all sporting competitions are finite games.

Lesson 1: The world is full of both finite and infinite games

Business, relationships, and education, on the other hand, are infinite games. There’s no defined beginning or end. New players join all the time. Others leave. There are rules, but they too constantly change. What the players do once they’re on the field is largely up to them, and the goal is to stay in the game rather than win. The world is full of both finite and infinite games, and problems occur when we play infinite games with a finite mindset.

When the FIFA gave the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup">2022 World Cup </a> to Qatar, for example, they did so primarily because <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2022/11/19/the-money-behind-the-most-expensive-world-cup-in-history-qatar-2022-by-the-numbers">they paid a lot of money </a>. They also reneged on fan and player privileges, like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/sports/soccer/world-cup-beer-qatar.html">alcohol in stadiums </a>and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/world-cup-2022-what-is-onelove-armband-why-did-fifa-ban-it-2022-11-24/">the LGBT armband </a>. Fans slammed the FIFA for its short-term thinking. They boycotted ticket sales, jerseys, and even stopped watching altogether. Business is an infinite game. If you play it, <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/long-term-thinking-for-a-short-sighted-world-summary/">think long-term </a>, cooperate with others, and try to keep playing rather than win.

Sinek quotes a study that suggests S&P 500 company lifespans have declined by over 40 years, from 61 on average to 18. Why? Fewer and fewer companies try to advance a “Just Cause.”

Lesson 2: Infinite thinking requires a Just Cause

“A Just Cause is a specific vision of a future state that does not yet exist ; a future state so appealing that people are willing to make sacrifices in order to help advance toward that vision,” Sinek says. It must have the following five traits:<ol><li>It must be for something rather than just against something . Fighting for every human’s right to eat is better than fighting against famine and starvation.</li><li>It must be inclusive . We only get excited about a vision we can clearly see.</li></ol>

3. It must be service-oriented . The primary beneficiary of the cause must be someone other than the business itself.4. It must be resilient . Will you build trains instead of cars if that’s where the world is headed? You should!5. It must be idealistic . Your vision should provide inspiration for generations, not be something you can get done by next week.

For years, Sinek had a silent competition going with Adam Grant, author of <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/originals-summary/">Originals </a>. When he finally met him at an event, Sinek realized: “The way I saw him had nothing to do with him. It had to do with me.” Instead of trying to beat his “competitor,” Sinek finally appreciated Grant as a “Worthy Rival:” Someone whose strengths and skills he could learn from.

Lesson 3: Worthy Rivals feel like competitors

Most of the time in business, the pie is big enough for everyone, and it’s better to focus on growing the pie altogether than to try and snag pieces off your neighbor’s plate. Analyzing a worthy rival will make you better at what you do. It’ll also help you gain clarity on why you’re doing it. Embrace competitors as co-players, and you’ll slowly adopt a <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/mindset-summary/">mindset </a>of <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/abundance-summary/">abundance </a>rather than scarcity, which will get you to focus on your Just Cause more so than whoever’s about to beat you.

Having read about half of its chapters, I’m pretty sure this isn’t <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/simon-sinek-books/">Simon Sinek’s best book </a>but still well worth your time. For the basics of finite and infinite games, read <a href="https://fourminutebooks.com/finite-and-infinite-games-summary/">Finite and Infinite Games </a>. To learn more about your Just Cause, Worthy Rivals, and the other concepts, pick up this inspiring and thought-provoking book. Even if you end up skipping the more common-sense chapters, this will be a few hours well-spent.

The Infinite Game - Book Review

The 17-year-old ambitious athlete who throws a tantrum every time he loses a game, the 42-year-old CFO who sometimes fails to see the big picture for all the numbers, and anyone who wants to build a business that can survive for 100 years or more.

Who would I recommend  The Infinite Game to?

Read our summary of The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek to find your Just Cause and Worthy Rival, among other lessons. Read now.

habits

Habits

strategy

Strategy

problemsolving

Problem Solving

The Infinite Game Summary

Time which changes people, doesn't alter the image we have of them.

Love was love, one could find it with anyone, one could find it anywhere. It was just that you could never keep it. Not unless you were ready to die for it.

Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom tochoose how you will respond to the situation. You cannot control whathappens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you.

A picture held us captive.And we could not get outside it,for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably.

I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak.

Through all the world there goesone long cry from the heart of theartist: Give me a chanceto do my best.

My favorite meansof communication isotherworldly:dreams-meeting indreams.

For the first time in my life the weather was not something that touched me, that caressed me,froze or sweated me,but became me.

As I see it, part of the art ofbeing a hero is knowing when youdon't need to be one anymore.

If you want to sit still and understand life... Read these. 

Discover recipes, home ideas, style inspiration and other ideas to try.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

writing

Reading & Writing

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

9 Deep Quotes to give you perspective.  

Instagram is full of people in love with their image of reading.Reading for learning is not all coffee shops and cosy couches. Most of the time is pen and paper and rereading concepts that are difficult to grasp.You read because you want to know more, do more, grow more. You have a purpose. You're looking for things that could give you an edge, that you could later use in your purpose.

Reading with purpose

Connecting ideas can be a creative action.Use technology to put together ideas from different backgrounds and come up with new insights.

Learning like mixing music

An insight is an atomic self-contained re-usable unit of knowledge.It has emotional value. A gut feeling that you've stumbled over something really valuable.

What's an insight?

Atomic: Is the idea the smallest it can be? If you resonated to multiple items maybe you could capture them separately. Self-contained: The nugget should be valuable on its own. You should get most of the value by looking at it. This means short summarised notes work better than lengthy never-ending paragraphs. Re-usable: The insight needs to allow for methods of interaction. It should be classified in a manner that you recognise, it should point back to the source etc.

What makes a good IDEA?

We sometimes get lost in the process of reading. We go to slow or take too many notes. Here's how to read efficiently, remember & mix new concepts.

For most people music is one the most meaningful (if not the only) spiritual experience. Music can detach you from this world, making you feel a deep sense of harmony, letting you experience a state…

education

Learning & Education

music

Music

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

How to learn better by thinking like a DJ

In work he performed in 1896, the American zoologist Frederick Kenyon showed that the brain of the tiny bee was infinitely more complex than anyone had imagined, with thousands upon thousands of connection points, and also showed, for the first time in any organism, that neurons fell into clearly identifi­able classes. He died, forgotten, in a lunatic asylum.

Frederick Kenyon

“American writer and biologist Frederick Kenyon (1867–1941) was the first to explore the inner workings of the bee brain. His 1896 study, in which he managed to dye and characterize numerous types of nerve cells of the bee brain, was, in the words of the world’s foremost insect neuroanatomist, Nick Strausfeld, ‘a supernova.’ Not only did Kenyon draw the branching patterns of various neuron types in painstaking detail, but he also high­lighted, for the first time in any organism, that these fell into clearly identifi­able classes, which tended to be found only in certain areas of the brain.

The Inner Workings of the Bee Brain

One such type he found in the mushroom bodies is the Kenyon cells, named in his honor. Their cell bodies — the part of the neuron that con­tains the chromosomes and the DNA — decoding machinery — are in a peripheral area enclosed by the calyx of each mushroom body (the mush­room’s ‘head’), with a few additional ones on the sides of or underneath the calyces.

The Kenyon Cells

A finely arbored dendritic tree (the branched struc­ture that is a nerve cell’s signal ‘receiver’) extends into the mushroom body calyx, and a single axon (the neuron’s ‘information-sending output cable’) extends from each cell into the mushroom body pedunculus (the mushroom’s ‘stalk’).Extrapolating from just a few of these characteristically shaped neu­rons that he could see, Kenyon suggested (correctly) that there must be tens of thousands of such similarly shaped cells, with parallel outputs into each mushroom body pedunculus.

Shaped Cells

(In fact, there are about 170,000 Kenyon cells in each mushroom body.) He found neurons that connect the an­tennal lobes (the primary relays processing olfactory sensory input) with the mushroom body input region (the calyces, where the Kenyon cells have the fine dendritic trees) — and even suggested, again correctly, that the mushroom bodies were centers of multisensory integration.Kenyon’s 1896 brain wiring diagram [is a marvel]. It contains several classes of recognizable neuron types, with some suggestions for how they might be connected.

A Marvel

Many neurons have extensions as widely branched as full­grown trees — only, of course, much smaller. Consider that the drawing only shows around 20 of a honey bee brain’s ~850,000 neurons. We now know that each neuron, through its many fine branches, can make up to 10,000 connection points (synapses) with other neurons. There may be a billion synapses in a honey bee’s brain — and, since the efficiency of synapses can be modified by experience, near-infinite possibility to alter the informa­tion flow through the brain by learning and memory.

A Billion Synapses

It is a mystery to me how, after the publication of such work as Kenyon’s, anyone could have suggested that the insect brain is simple, or that the study of brain size could in any way be informative about the complexities of information pro­cessing inside a brain.Kenyon apparently suffered some of the anxieties all too familiar to many early-career researchers today. Despite his scientific accomplish­ments, he had trouble finding permanent employment, and moved be­tween institutions several times, facing continuous financial hardship.

Financial Hardship

Eventually, he appears to have snapped, and in 1899 Kenyon was arrested for ‘erratic and threatening behavior’ toward colleagues, who subsequently accused him of insanity. Later that year, he was permanently confined to a lunatic asylum, apparently without any opportunity ever to rehabilitate himself, and he died there more than four decades later — as Nick Strausfeld writes, ‘unloved, forgotten, and alone.’It was not to be the last tragedy in the quest to understand the bee brain.”

"Unloved, Forgotten, and Alone"

In work he performed in 1896, the American zoologist Frederick Kenyon showed that the brain of the tiny bee was infinitely more complex than anyone had imagined, with thousands upon thousands of…

religionandspirituality

Religion & Spirituality

history

History

artificialintelligence

Artificial Intelligence

In the quest to understand the bee brain …

<ol><li>Describe the plot: Enough to hook the reader</li><li>No spoilers</li><li>Content Warning: Mention them especially before it's brought up as a point of review</li><li>Find the hook: Just like the book has a hook, your review should have one too.</li><li>Make your opinion clear: Readers can get book summaries everywhere, your thoughts differentiate your review from that.</li><li>Find your voice: As you keep reviewing, you'll find your style. Embrace it.</li><li>Rating system: Decide on your personal rating system.</li><li>Read other review</li><li>Explain praise & critique</li><li>Consider your audience</li><li>Proofread</li></ol>

Key Points

Tips for Writing a Good Book Review

Eric G. Wilson, Thomas H. Pritchard Professor of English at Wake Forest University, shares 5 key insights from his new book, How to Be Weird: An Off-kilter Guide to Living a One-of-a-Kind Life.<ol><li>Defamiliarize the familiar (see old things in a new way)</li><li>Familiarize the strange (see new things intimately)</li><li>Shock yourself out of your tired habits</li><li>Turn something into something else</li><li>Embrace those parts of yourself that you’re afraid of</li></ol>

How To Be Weird

One of the great problems of life is how to keep it interesting. Many of us rely on the same routine almost every day, with the same people, from week to week and year to year. And while binge-watching television or drinking a little too much or trying to learn a new hobby offer distractions from monotony, at the end of the day, it’s the same old, same old. That is, until you make the same old feel different by defamiliarizing the familiar.

Same Old, Same Old

Lie on your belly in your front yard or in a much-visited park or even on the sidewalk in front of your apartment. Stare at this ground for one minute, noticing the grass, a pebble, a stain on the pavement. Now, roll over and fling your sight into the sky. Enjoy the slight vertigo, the jerk from small to immense. Take in the heavens for a minute, and now roll back over. The ground isn’t the same anymore. It is different, alive. Take a souvenir from your adventure—a blade of grass. Put it beside your bed. It will remind you that you’re always only a turn away from re-enchanting your world.

Defamiliarize The Familiar

There are many ways to disorient yourself slightly from the every-day. Learn to write your name with your non-dominant hand. Imagine a secret name for a part of yourself you’ve rarely shown the world; carry the name in your wallet, and when things get stressful or boring, remember it’s there—it’s you, living out a life other than this one.Weird experiences estrange us from our conventional habits of thought and perception, they nullify old conceptual maps, launching us into uncharted regions of our being where we can discover new coordinates, more capacious and colorful.

Disorient Yourself

Sometimes the daily grind can be too much even for a defamiliarizing imagination. This is when it is time to seek new terrain. No need to go far. On a Saturday, take a walk in a place in your town or city where you’ve never been. Your goal is getting lost. (Don’t worry; your smart phone will get you home safe.)

Let Yourself Get Lost

Once you are beyond familiar terrain, wander just to wander. You’re not going anywhere; you’re just taking in what interests you. Follow your whim. Observe that tree with the golden leaves—is it a ginkgo? Do you smell that mud? It reminds you of the creek you played in when you were little. That house seems abandoned. What’s its story? The key is to observe and daydream. Let new sights enter your heart and activate feelings.

Wander Just To Wander

Another way to familiarize the strange is creating an atlas of weird things in your vicinity, from contorted tree trunks, to old pipes that seem to spring from nowhere, to spooky graffiti, or that underpass that’s always cold as hell.Still another method: create a shadowbox. Over a week, pick up the strangest small things you come across. Maybe an interesting piece of litter. Perhaps a penny. Or a crocus? Then turn a shoebox on its side and glue these objects into the configurations of your choosing. Now look at it as you would a stage in a theater. What does the scene tell you about yourself?

The Shadowbox Of Weird Things

Sometimes our attempts to defamiliarize the familiar just don’t work because our habits are too deeply ingrained. Our front yard is just our front yard, not a springboard flinging our mind to the heavens, and the abandoned part of the city is just too dilapidated. When our old identity is blocking our ability to enjoy strange and exhilarating experiences, we need to startle it out of complacency.

Shock Yourself Out Of Your Tired Habits

One way to startle yourself out of complacency is to wake yourself up from a brief nap. Scientists have shown that when the brain has just fallen asleep it remains loosely conscious of subconscious currents. If we awaken when our brain is in this state, we often experience fresh associations, bizarre visions, and startling insights. Salvador Dalí knew this.

Wake Yourself Up

“I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy. My reality is just different from yours.” - Lewis Carroll

Eric G. Wilson shares 5 key insights from his new book, How to Be Weird: An Off-kilter Guide to Living a One-of-a-Kind Life.

How To Be Weird: An Off-kilter Guide to Living  Α One-of-a-Kind Life

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