The gift is not about the fancy wrappings, neither is it the container within which the gift lies. The gift is the gift itself. But if we flaunt the wrappings, praise the container and never use the gift, it is like taking a peanut, eating the shell and throwing away the true source of nourishment—the (more…)
Avoid mediocrity…follow passion! Well-developed passions lead to brilliant opportunities!
Heavenly Joy Jerkins, daughter of Grammy-winning record music producer Rodney Jerkins and singer Joy Enriquez, stands on her own rights as gifted singer and aspiring tap dancer. Her penchant and passion for music is ingrained in her being, regardless of the gifts she may have gotten from her talented parents. Passion cannot be feigned; it (more…)
Those questions, ‘who am I?’ ‘why am I here?’ emerge in our culture in only the most superficial of ways. We answer in terms of how we make a living or if we are a homemaker, but that doesn’t answer the question “who we are.” What are our passions? What are our gifts? How do (more…)
No problem. Just make something up!
Just wasting time riding around on that bike? Maybe not! Perhaps your child is demonstrating a bodily kinesthetic gift just waiting to find direction? According to Catherine Hess, “What most of us don’t realize is just how complex the art of riding a bicycle actually is.” In her award winning essay “As easy as riding (more…)
There is a treasure within. It is not in the list of subjects we study, it is not in educational standards, it will not necessarily make the super-powers more powerful or the wealthy wealthier. But what it will make is a sane, thoughtful and compassionate world, one were creativity and passion unite to create inner (more…)
Better different than indistinguishable!
When Jacob Barnett was age two, his parents were told that he was autistic and would never talk, think, tie his shoes or learn. Now, a highly accomplished 13-year-old in the areas of physics and mathematics, with a masters degree in astrophysics, Jacob articulately explains to an audience of kids at a TedX conference that (more…)
When we are tied to old stories about who we are and what we can or cannot do, we limit the possibilities of really becoming all that we are. Those stories run through our minds like old tapes on a feedback loop. But if we can get to the place where we intellectually understand that (more…)