Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon has chapters
titled “Share Something Small Every Day” and “Think Process. Not Product” and
is definitely worth a look. I love the variety
of people, including actors, writers, and athletes, who are quoted. Just a sampling of some of my favorite advice
to get us all thinking:
- Be an amateur: “That’s all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else.” ~Charlie Chaplin
- “A lot of people are so used to just seeing the outcome of work. They never see the side of the work you go through to produce the outcome.” ~Michael Jordan
- “One day at a time. It sounds so simple. It actually is simple, but it isn’t easy.” ~ Russell Brand
- “Eventually, you will become stale. [However,] If you give away everything you have, you are left with nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish…. Somehow, the more you give away, the more comes back to you.” ~Paul Arden
I will be featuring the book and sharing some of these ideas
in an upcoming display – great discussion starters and super-useful when senior
students are trying to find a meaningful yearbook quote.
I did try to read Show Your Work! online with
the Bluefire reader and found that to be a rather clunky, frustrating
experience. Instead, pick up a physical copy of Show Your Work!,
a “little” book with a powerful message and try Kleon’s Steal Like an
Artist, too. Both will give you
plenty to think about and many, many ideas to implement.
