Love it! I read this Dr Paul Samuelson quote in Sir Ken Robinson’s book The Element on my way to work this morning and it resonated so that posting it here is the first thing I’m doing before getting on with the rest of my day. I am definitely, for the most part, a ‘happy warrior’, except on the really bad days when I’m just a grumpy warrior ;-)

I am one of the lucky ones that from early on in life absolutely knew that art and design was the path for me. Doesn’t mean that I haven’t struggled to find a clear and meaningful route to forge ahead, or had to occasionally deviate onto a side road in order to make ends meet, but in general I’m still on my chosen path.

Having said that, the ways in which I’ve used my skills in art and design to make a living has been, and continues to be, constantly surprising (The environment! Who knew?) - keeping this happy warrior on her toes and helping retain that vital sense of play. The path might be preordained, but you can definitely choose which direction you walk in.

Abraham Lincoln to Congress in 1862, via Sir Ken Robinson at TED 2010. I love that these words speak to so many contemporary issues: social, political, and most especially environmental.

The very wonderful Sir Ken Robinson @TEDtalks picking up where he left off at TED 2006. “So as I was saying…”

My favourite quotes from this year’s talk:

“There are people who love what they do. Because isn’t what they do, it’s who they are. They say, ‘but this is me, it would be foolish for me to abandon this because it speaks to my most authentic self.’”

“Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability.”

“It’s about passion and what excites our spirit and our energy. If you are doing the thing that you love to do, that you’re good at, time takes a different course entirely… If you’re doing something you love an hour feels like five minutes. If you’re doing something that doesn’t resonate with your spirit five minutes feels like an hour.”

“We have to recognise that human flourishing is not a mechanical process, it’s an organic process. You cannot predict the outcome of human development, all you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish.”