Possibilities

I just finished reading a book called The Art of Possibility by Rosamund and Benjamin Zander. The book develops various practices to think of life as a place of possibilities instead of limitations and measurements of success. This is a very creative book with lots of good stories of the ideas in practice—I especially enjoyed hearing stories from Benjamin who has traveled around the world as a conductor and teacher.

My favorite idea in the book takes Michelangelo’s famous comment that “inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within,” and applies it to people. Basically, that we each have a unique gift and potential inside of us, and we just need to chip off the excess to access that gift.

I like to think of the Michelangelo idea as a sort of coming home to yourself—uncovering the truth that’s always been there. It’s hard to find that place and accept it—it can seem difficult to honor because of money or time or so many other excuses. Often this world does not seem set up for us to live our most true and passionate interests. But as I have said before, I think our greatest contribution comes from honoring this gift. When we’re being our truest selves, we are happiest and we’re giving our best back to the world.

This concept is even more revolutionary when you start applying it to other people. If you look at people from the standpoint of the Michelangelo idea, then you have a place from which you can respect them as contributors to this world. Even if they aren’t being their best selves in this moment, you can know that somewhere inside of them there is this true gift.

If this sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend checking out the book—it has lots of great ideas about transforming your life and yourself into a framework of possibilities. As always, these ideas are easier to think about than put into practice, but it seems to me, that thinking is the first step.