You've probably seen them featured in airport bookstores: Stephenie Meyer's vampire series. Designed for young adult women, and written by a BYU graduate and mom, The Twilight Saga features Bella, a high-school girl who falls in love with Edward, a "vegetarian" vampire (yes, these vampires don't bite people!) who both live and attend high school in the small town of Forks, Washington. How does such series of books appeal to readers of all ages? Great writing and intriguing, if somewhat unusual, plots!
I completed the last of the four-book series, Breaking Dawn, this weekend. I wanted to share with you a quote from Eleazar, who, in conversation with Edward and Bella, speaks of the special and unique talents of each vampire. He says (page 597), "Yes, no talent ever manifests itself in precisely the same way, because no one ever thinks in exactly the same way."
This is brilliant! Though (most of) our talents are not vampire-like, Eleazar speaks so well to strengths -- both yours and mine. Even if you and I share the same list of strengths, we will manifest them very differently, depending upon how we think, our values and passions, our personalities, and our styles of communicating. Our strengths are unique! We have the opportunity to apply our strengths, each of us, in a unique way and in the venues we choose.
And we don't need to bite anyone on the neck.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The World to Come
In 2006, it was Gonzales and Daughter Trucking Company by Maria Amparo Escandon; in 2007, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This year, our local public library chose The World to Come by Dana Horn as the book of the year. All over Bend, Redmond and other locales in Central Oregon, book clubs read this book, and the library offers films, talks, book discussions and, best of all, visits by the author, so we can read this book as a community. It’s a great time and we all gain from the discussions!
The World to Come begins with the theft of a Chagall painting, and then follows the history of the painting back to those who owned it and to Chagall himself. It’s a good read!
On page 84 there is a comment that is haunting me. I.L. Peretz is speaking to Der Nister (these men are poets and authors who write in Yiddish -- a whole world I knew nothing about!) Peretz says, "Your purpose as a writer is to achieve one task, and one task only: To build a paper bridge to the world to come."
We all write. For some of us, writing is a strength born out of innate talents in creativity and clarity. For others of us, it is something we do simply to communicate in today’s world of electronic communication. I wonder what is possible if we each accept the responsibility that each time we write -- whether we’re writing a book, a holiday card, or an e-mail – we write from the perspective that this bit of writing is building a bridge to "the world to come." This bit of wisdom inspires me to think more carefully about what I write and to ensure my words open up possibilities and options and dreams and visions ... and not shut them down. This wisdom is doubly important for leaders, especially today as we often communicate to our followers in written form.
As you prepare your next e-mail or blog comment, please consider if your words build a vision; if they inspire and engage; if they enable others to see the next step in creating the future.
How are you building "a paper bridge to the world to come?"
Andrea
The World to Come begins with the theft of a Chagall painting, and then follows the history of the painting back to those who owned it and to Chagall himself. It’s a good read!
On page 84 there is a comment that is haunting me. I.L. Peretz is speaking to Der Nister (these men are poets and authors who write in Yiddish -- a whole world I knew nothing about!) Peretz says, "Your purpose as a writer is to achieve one task, and one task only: To build a paper bridge to the world to come."
We all write. For some of us, writing is a strength born out of innate talents in creativity and clarity. For others of us, it is something we do simply to communicate in today’s world of electronic communication. I wonder what is possible if we each accept the responsibility that each time we write -- whether we’re writing a book, a holiday card, or an e-mail – we write from the perspective that this bit of writing is building a bridge to "the world to come." This bit of wisdom inspires me to think more carefully about what I write and to ensure my words open up possibilities and options and dreams and visions ... and not shut them down. This wisdom is doubly important for leaders, especially today as we often communicate to our followers in written form.
As you prepare your next e-mail or blog comment, please consider if your words build a vision; if they inspire and engage; if they enable others to see the next step in creating the future.
How are you building "a paper bridge to the world to come?"
Andrea
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