Download or read book The Imagination Muscle written by Albert Read and published by Constable. This book was released on 2023-03-23 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Beautiful, moving, profoundly imaginative in itself - this book is as entertaining as it is relevant and practical' ALAIN DE BOTTON 'Anyone who has an imagination - that is, everyone - should read this book' EDWARD ENNINFUL 'An extraordinary book - an elaborate cabinet of curiosities' SPECTATOR For some, the imagination is a luxury in the modern age; something which is by turns elusive, difficult to employ and better left to others. But what is it to imagine exactly? How do we go about it, and why is it so important that we imagine for ourselves? In this insightful and life-affirming book, Albert Read puts the imagination back at the forefront of our lives. Not merely a nebulous concept reserved for artists and creatives, it is a muscle - an essential faculty of the mind to be trained and developed over a lifetime. It is boundless in its potential, infinitely rewarding and central to human achievement. Spanning pre-historic times through to the twenty-first century, The Imagination Muscle explores the genesis of ideas - from Thomas Edison's serial embracing of failure to Jane Jacobs' vision of how we should build cities together; from Steve Jobs' approach to office design to the Japanese concept of Ma. Touching on art, music, film, literature, science and entrepreneurship, this book examines how the imagination has evolved - in shape, power and pace - through the millennia. Albert Read reveals how we can harness the imagination in our day-to-day lives and why, in the new Age of Technology, it is more pressing than ever that we do so. Discover where to find ideas, how to foster skill in observation and connection, and how to be more attentive to the fluxes of our own minds. After all, as Read expertly outlines, the imagination is our supreme gift, our biggest opportunity, our greatest source of fulfilment and our most vital asset for the future.

Download or read book The Imagination Muscle written by Albert Read and published by Union Square & Co.. This book was released on 2024-07-02 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this insightful and life-affirming book, Albert Read puts the imagination back at the forefront of our lives as a “muscle” that is boundless in its potential, infinitely rewarding, and central to human achievement. This beautifully written book explores one subject, imagination, through the lens of history and memoir, with some prescriptive aspects to it as well. The author posits that imagination, while elusive, is not just for artists and creatives, it is a muscle—an essential faculty of the mind to be trained and developed over a lifetime. Spanning prehistoric times through to the twenty-first century, from the earliest cave paintings to Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions to Steve Jobs’s approach to office design, it touches on art, music, film, literature, science, and entrepreneurship, to examine how the imagination has evolved—in shape, power, and pace—through the millennia. Albert Read reveals how we can harness the imagination in our day-to-day lives and why, in the new age of technology, it is more pressing than ever that we do so. He explores where to find ideas, how to foster skills in observation and connection, and how to be more attentive to the fluxes of our own minds. After all, as Read expertly outlines, the imagination is our supreme gift, our biggest opportunity, our greatest source of fulfillment and our most vital asset for the future. The book is illustrated throughout with approximately 60 images.

Download or read book The Evolution of Imagination written by Stephen T. Asma and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-06-21 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consider Miles Davis, horn held high, sculpting a powerful musical statement full of tonal patterns, inside jokes, and thrilling climactic phrases—all on the fly. Or think of a comedy troupe riffing on a couple of cues from the audience until the whole room is erupting with laughter. Or maybe it’s a team of software engineers brainstorming their way to the next Google, or the Einsteins of the world code-cracking the mysteries of nature. Maybe it’s simply a child playing with her toys. What do all of these activities share? With wisdom, humor, and joy, philosopher Stephen T. Asma answers that question in this book: imagination. And from there he takes us on an extraordinary tour of the human creative spirit. Guided by neuroscience, animal behavior, evolution, philosophy, and psychology, Asma burrows deep into the human psyche to look right at the enigmatic but powerful engine that is our improvisational creativity—the source, he argues, of our remarkable imaginational capacity. How is it, he asks, that a story can evoke a whole world inside of us? How are we able to rehearse a skill, a speech, or even an entire scenario simply by thinking about it? How does creativity go beyond experience and help us make something completely new? And how does our moral imagination help us sculpt a better society? As he shows, we live in a world that is only partly happening in reality. Huge swaths of our cognitive experiences are made up by “what-ifs,” “almosts,” and “maybes,” an imagined terrain that churns out one of the most overlooked but necessary resources for our flourishing: possibilities. Considering everything from how imagination works in our physical bodies to the ways we make images, from the mechanics of language and our ability to tell stories to the creative composition of self-consciousness, Asma expands our personal and day-to-day forms of imagination into a grand scale: as one of the decisive evolutionary forces that has guided human development from the Paleolithic era to today. The result is an inspiring look at the rich relationships among improvisation, imagination, and culture, and a privileged glimpse into the unique nature of our evolved minds.

Download or read book Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things written by Gilbert Sorrentino and published by Dalkey Archive Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Gilbert Sorrentino's third novel is about the New York artistic and literary world of the 1950s and '60s, specifically the artists, writers, hangers-on, and the phonies who populated that world. In a prose that is ruthless as well as possessed of an enormous comic verve, the dedicated, the stupid, the rapacious, and the foolish are dissected. Eight major characters, many of whom reappear in Sorrentino's later novels, are employed to allow the reader a variety of views of the same world. Told in the weary voice of a cynical and sardonic narrator, the novel is crammed with fantastic characters, incidents, and episodes, and moves from wit and satire through elegiac brooding, to bitter invective. It is a superb re-creation of a real time and place."--Publisher description.

Download or read book Muscle Up written by P D Mangan and published by . This book was released on 2015-10-23 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past few decades, mainstream health experts have universally recommended aerobic exercise as a uniquely health-promoting activity. Yet now, Americans are fatter than ever. Aerobic exercise not only has a very poor record at fat loss, it might even cause weight gain. Strength training - also known as weightlifting or resistance training - has much greater power to cause fat loss. What's more, since it builds muscle mass, strength training has huge advantages over aerobic exercise when it comes to improving health. Greater muscle strength means less cancer and heart disease, besides smaller waist size and less body fat. Aerobic exercise, while it can increase cardiovascular fitness, does next to nothing to combat two of the central maladies of aging: sarcopenia (loss of muscle) and osteoporosis. Strength training robustly fights sarcopenia and osteoporosis, and can stop older adults from becoming frail and can keep them out of nursing homes. Whether you're a young and healthy man, a middle-aged woman looking to lose fat, or an elderly person who wants to stay strong and independent, strength training has the most to offer of any exercise. Everyone who exercises should add a strength training component to it. There's simply no other better way to fight obesity, diabetes, cancer, and frailty, and to instill self-confidence and get an attractive body. Muscle Up shows why everyone should train for strength and why aerobic exercise is not optimal. The book surveys the beneficial health effects of strength training, all of it supported by scientific research, with studies cited. You'll also learn how to start a strength training program. There's also a chapter on strength training's cousin, high-intensity interval training (HIT), which can get you in superb physical condition in literally just minutes a week. If you're not getting the results you want from your aerobic exercise, read Muscle Up and see why you should take up strength training. Or you could keep jogging or using the stair-stepper for a few more years and see how that works.

Download or read book The Imagination Is a Muscle If It Is Not Exercised It Atrophies written by Lambda Designs and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-21 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This notebook features the quote " The imagination is a muscle. If it is not exercised, it atrophies " on the cover, it's perfect for anyone to record ideas, or to use for writing and note-taking. It can be used as a notebook, journal or composition book. Simple and elegant. 108 pages, high quality cover and 6 x 9" inches in size.

Download or read book The Christian Imagination written by Willie James Jennings and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2010-05-25 with total page 582 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why has Christianity, a religion premised upon neighborly love, failed in its attempts to heal social divisions? In this ambitious and wide-ranging work, Willie James Jennings delves deep into the late medieval soil in which the modern Christian imagination grew, to reveal how Christianity's highly refined process of socialization has inadvertently created and maintained segregated societies. A probing study of the cultural fragmentation-social, spatial, and racial-that took root in the Western mind, this book shows how Christianity has consistently forged Christian nations rather than encouraging genuine communion between disparate groups and individuals. Weaving together the stories of Zurara, the royal chronicler of Prince Henry, the Jesuit theologian Jose de Acosta, the famed Anglican Bishop John William Colenso, and the former slave writer Olaudah Equiano, Jennings narrates a tale of loss, forgetfulness, and missed opportunities for the transformation of Christian communities. Touching on issues of slavery, geography, Native American history, Jewish-Christian relations, literacy, and translation, he brilliantly exposes how the loss of land and the supersessionist ideas behind the Christian missionary movement are both deeply implicated in the invention of race. Using his bold, creative, and courageous critique to imagine a truly cosmopolitan citizenship that transcends geopolitical, nationalist, ethnic, and racial boundaries, Jennings charts, with great vision, new ways of imagining ourselves, our communities, and the landscapes we inhabit.

Download or read book The Imagination Machine written by Martin Reeves and published by Harvard Business Press. This book was released on 2021-06-08 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide for mining the imagination to find powerful new ways to succeed. We need imagination now more than ever—to find new opportunities, rethink our businesses, and discover paths to growth. Yet too many companies have lost their ability to imagine. What is this mysterious capacity? How does imagination work? And how can organizations keep it alive and harness it in a systematic way? The Imagination Machine answers these questions and more. Drawing on the experience and insights of CEOs across several industries, as well as lessons from neuroscience, computer science, psychology, and philosophy, Martin Reeves of Boston Consulting Group's Henderson Institute and Jack Fuller, an expert in neuroscience, provide a fascinating look into the mechanics of imagination and lay out a process for creating ideas and bringing them to life: The Seduction: How to open yourself up to surprises The Idea: How to generate new ideas The Collision: How to rethink your idea based on real-world feedback The Epidemic: How to spread an evolving idea to others The New Ordinary: How to turn your novel idea into an accepted reality The Encore: How to repeat the process—again and again. Imagination is one of the least understood but most crucial ingredients of success. It's what makes the difference between an incremental change and the kinds of pivots and paradigm shifts that are essential to transformation—especially during a crisis. The Imagination Machine is the guide you need to demystify and operationalize this powerful human capacity, to inject new life into your company, and to head into unknown territory with the right tools at your disposal.

Download or read book The Duchess Countess written by Catherine Ostler and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A scintillating story superbly told... [Ostler] packs every paragraph with eye-opening detail' The Times 'A rollicking read... [Ostler] tells Elizabeth's story with admirable style and gusto' Sunday Times 'Terrifically entertaining: if you liked Bridgerton, you’ll love this...and her research is impeccable' Evening Standard 'Fascinating. Magnificent.​ Sensitively told' Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five 'Catherine Ostler’s superb, gripping, decadent biography brings an extraordinary woman and a whole world blazingly to life' Simon Sebag Montefiore When the glamorous Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, Countess of Bristol, went on trial at Westminster Hall for bigamy in April 1776, the story drew more attention in society than the American War of Independence. A clandestine, candlelit wedding to the young heir to an earldom, a second marriage to a Duke, a lust for diamonds and an electrifying appearance at a masquerade ball in a diaphanous dress: no wonder the trial was a sensation. However, Elizabeth refused to submit to public humiliation and retire quietly. Rather than backing gracefully out of the limelight, she embarked on a Grand Tour of Europe, being welcomed by the Pope and Catherine the Great among others. As maid of honour to Augusta, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth led her life in the inner circle of the Hanoverian court and her exploits delighted and scandalised the press and the people. She made headlines, and was a constant feature in penny prints and gossip columns. Writers were intrigued by her. Thackeray drew on Elizabeth as inspiration for his calculating, alluring Becky Sharp. But her behaviour, often depicted as attention-seeking and manipulative, hid a more complex tale – that of Elizabeth’s fight to overcome personal tragedy and loss. Now, in this brilliantly told and evocative biography, Catherine Ostler takes a fresh look at Elizabeth’s story and seeks to understand and reappraise a woman who refused to be defined by society’s expectations of her. A woman who was by turns, brave, loving and generous but also reckless, greedy and insecure; a woman totally unwilling to accept the female status of underdog or to hand over all the power, the glory and the adventures of life to men.

Download or read book The Smallest Muscle in the Human Body written by Alberto Ríos and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alberto Rios explains the world not through reason but magic. These poems-set in a town that straddles Mexico and Arizona-are lyric adventures, crossing two and three boundaries as easily as one, between cultures, between languages, between senses. Drawing upon fable, parable, and family legend, Rios utilizes the intense and supple imagination of childhood to find and preserve history beyond facts: plastic lemons turning into baseballs, a grandmother's long hair reaching up to save her life, the painted faith jumpers leaping to the earth and crowd below. This is magical realism at its shimmering best. The smallest muscle in the human body is in the ear. It is also the only muscle that does not have blood vessels; It has fluid instead. The reason for this is clear: The ear is so sensitive that the body, if it heard its own pulse, Would be devastated by the amplification of its own sound. In this knowledge I sense a great metaphor, But I do not want to be hasty in trying to capture or describe it. Words are our weakest hold on the world. -from "Some Extensions of the Sovereignty of Science" "Rios is onto something new in his poetry-in the way that the real poets of any time always are."-American Book Review Alberto Rios teaches at Arizona State and is the author of eight books of poetry, three collections of short stories, and a memoir about growing up on the Mexican border. He is the recipient of numerous awards and his work is included in over 175 national and international literary anthologies. His work is regularly taught and translated, and has been adapted to dance and both classical and popular music.

Download or read book Michael Chekhov s Acting Technique written by Sinéad Rushe and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intended for actors, directors, teachers and researchers, this book offers an exceptionally clear and thorough introduction to the renowned acting technique developed by Michael Chekhov. Sinéad Rushe's book provides a complete overview of the whole method, and includes illuminating explanations of its principles, as well as a wide range of practical exercises that illustrate, step by step, how they can be applied to dramatic texts. Part One provides an outline of the ideas that underpin the work, which help to prepare practitioners to become responsive and receptive, and to awaken their imagination. Part Two charts a journey through the foundational psychophysical exercises that can both orient an actor's training routine and be applied directly to the development of a role. Part Three focuses on more specific and elaborate methods of scene work, characterisation and the art of transformation. Drawing on the full range of Chekhov's writing in English and French, this book also examines unpublished material from the Dartington Hall archives and features interviews with actors who have worked with the technique, including Simon Callow and Joanna Merlin. It illustrates Chekhov's approach by referring to Rushe's own productions of Nikolai Gogol's short story Diary of a Madman and Shakespeare's Othello, as well as characters and scenes in Sarah Kane's Blasted and the contemporary American television series Breaking Bad. Michael Chekhov's Acting Technique is an accessible, comprehensive and contemporary point of reference for those already trained in the method, as well as an initiation and toolkit for practitioners who are just beginning to discover it.

Download or read book Encore written by Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons and published by Zelinka Parsons Publications. This book was released on 2025-02-05 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Accessible, practical, and important.” —Kathy L. Brown, Independent Book Revie Embark on a journey to a new, energizing chapter of life. At the crossroads of professional and personal life, Elizabeth Zelinka Parsons struggled to redefine purpose in life after a high-powered career. Searching for answers, she embarked on a transformative journey to discover new approaches to purpose, balance, and resilience. If the prospect of retirement sparks anxiety, fear not—this comprehensive guide, crafted for high-achieving professionals, redefines retirement as a gateway to new opportunities, meaning, and accomplishment. Fusing the author’s expertise with cutting-edge research, it unveils a proven approach for envisioning, planning, and executing an ideal retirement. In Encore: A High Achiever’s Guide to Thriving in Retirement, Elizabeth shatters stereotypes, offering strategies for embracing change, strategically navigating transitions, and carrying your existential motivators into retirement. Ditch quantitative success measures for qualitative ones, leverage strategic instability for continuous growth, and develop the mindset of a creator instead of a reactor. From expanding your relationship portfolio to adopting a strategy of confident control, the book presents actionable exercises to design a satisfying new life complete with meaningful engagement. Unlike conventional retirement guides, Encore reframes retirement as a dynamic transition, akin to a graduation or promotion, positioning it as an opportunity for personal growth. For professionals seeking a productive, engaged, and purposeful next chapter, this guide is your go-to resource, offering a wealth of possibilities for resilience, reinvention, and a fulfilling encore.

Download or read book Active Imagination Activity Book written by Kelly Tilley and published by Future Horizons. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The activities in this book tap into what kids love best--play. The 50 sensorimotor activities provide fun, easy, and imaginative exercises to build a child's skills that are necessary for meeting the challenges of everyday life at home, school, and out in the community.

Download or read book Pastoral Imagination written by Eileen R. Campbell-Reed and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers. This book was released on 2021 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastoral Imagination: Bringing the Practice of Ministry to Life informs and inspires the practice of ministry through "on the ground" learning experienced in a variety of ministry settings. Each of the fifty chapters explores a single concept through story, reflection, and provocative open-ended questions designed to spark conversation between ministers and mentors, among ministry peers, or for personal journal reflections. The book is closely integrated with the author's Three Minute Ministry Mentor web resource.

Download or read book Change Your Life written by Allen Klein and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Allen Klein, master of the right quote at the right moment, has gathered his favorite, most inspiring words of wisdom into this treasury of moving and meaningful sayings from around the world that incite readers to live life to the fullest. Readers can take this book on the go to get a quick shot of inspiration at any time, or they can select one quote every day for in-depth thought and meditation. The book’s small size makes it ideal to carry in a purse or a bag, or to keep by the computer for those moments of need. However readers choose to use these uplifting and inspiring quotes, they all have the potential to be life-changing. Kipling once said that words are "the most powerful drug used by mankind" — the words in this book are the prescription readers need to revise their lives. The book features a foreword by Jack Canfield, cocreator of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Download or read book The Creative Spark written by Agustín Fuentes and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-03-21 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A bold new synthesis of paleontology, archaeology, genetics, and anthropology that overturns misconceptions about race, war and peace, and human nature itself, answering an age-old question: What made humans so exceptional among all the species on Earth? Creativity. It is the secret of what makes humans special, hiding in plain sight. Agustín Fuentes argues that your child's finger painting comes essentially from the same place as creativity in hunting and gathering millions of years ago, and throughout history in making war and peace, in intimate relationships, in shaping the planet, in our communities, and in all of art, religion, and even science. It requires imagination and collaboration. Every poet has her muse; every engineer, an architect; every politician, a constituency. The manner of the collaborations varies widely, but successful collaboration is inseparable from imagination, and it brought us everything from knives and hot meals to iPhones and interstellar spacecraft. Weaving fascinating stories of our ancient ancestors' creativity, Fuentes finds the patterns that match modern behavior in humans and animals. This key quality has propelled the evolutionary development of our bodies, minds, and cultures, both for good and for bad. It's not the drive to reproduce; nor competition for mates, or resources, or power; nor our propensity for caring for one another that have separated us out from all other creatures. As Fuentes concludes, to make something lasting and useful today you need to understand the nature of your collaboration with others, what imagination can and can't accomplish, and, finally, just how completely our creativity is responsible for the world we live in. Agustín Fuentes's resounding multimillion-year perspective will inspire readers—and spark all kinds of creativity.

Download or read book Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination written by Henry Jenkins and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How popular culture is engaged by activists to effect emancipatory political change One cannot change the world unless one can imagine what a better world might look like. Civic imagination is the capacity to conceptualize alternatives to current cultural, social, political, or economic conditions; it also requires the ability to see oneself as a civic agent capable of making change, as a participant in a larger democratic culture. Popular Culture and the Civic Imagination represents a call for greater clarity about what we’re fighting for—not just what we’re fighting against. Across more than thirty examples from social movements around the world, this casebook proposes “civic imagination” as a framework that can help us identify, support, and practice new kinds of communal participation. As the contributors demonstrate, young people, in particular, are turning to popular culture—from Beyoncé to Bollywood, from Smokey Bear to Hamilton, from comic books to VR—for the vernacular through which they can express their discontent with current conditions. A young activist uses YouTube to speak back against J. K. Rowling in the voice of Cho Chang in order to challenge the superficial representation of Asian Americans in children’s literature. Murals in Los Angeles are employed to construct a mythic imagination of Chicano identity. Twitter users have turned to #BlackGirlMagic to highlight the black radical imagination and construct new visions of female empowerment. In each instance, activists demonstrate what happens when the creative energies of fans are infused with deep political commitment, mobilizing new visions of what a better democracy might look like.