Take some time to reflect.

This is another one of Brad Esau's lovely photographs of Mrs. Bean. For more about Brad and Mrs. Bean, see this earlier post. You can see all the Mrs. Bean posts as I add them using this link: more Mrs. Bean memes.

Take some time to reflect.

English: Look boldly ahead.

This is another one of Brad Esau's lovely photographs of Mrs. Bean. For more about Brad and Mrs. Bean, see this earlier post. You will be able to see all the Mrs. Bean posts as I add them using this link: more Mrs. Bean memes.

Each word of today's growth mindset advice is important:

LOOK: Look for yourself; don't wait for others to tell you. Use your eyes and your mind to see what's going on around you.

BOLDLY: Set aside your fears; fear is the mind killer (yes, that's from the Litany Against Fear in the great sci-fi novel Dune).

AHEAD: Don't worry about the past; look to the future instead. Growth goes forward. :-)

Look boldly ahead.

Mind, brain, and energy work together.

This quote is inspired by an interview in the London Guardian newspaper with Norman Doidge, who is one of the leading proponents of neuroplasticity: The man teaching us to change our minds. Here is an excerpt:

The thing is, there are no lights, colours, smells or sounds inside the brain. There are patterns of electrical information and our sense receptors, our retinas, the cochlea in the ear are, in energy terms, transducers. Meaning that what they do is translate one form of energy – sound, light, heat – into another. It is the latter – electrical patterns of energy in the brain – that in one way or another help or cause the brain to sculpt itself, neuroplastically. Somehow or other, thought itself can do that work. It became apparent that this link between mind, brain and energy really is central to who we are and what we do.

Mind, brain, and energy work together.

The beautiful cat is Mrs. Bean as photographed by Brad Esau; this one is from the album Bean in Hope (used here by permission). Brad's blog is where I have learned a lot about neuroplasticity, and he writes in this post about how important Doidge's work was for him: Credentials and Sources. And here are some more Mrs. Bean memes.

English: Follow your bliss.

I was inspired by this share from Open Culture - 48 Hours of Joseph Campbell Lectures Free Online: The Power of Myth & Storytelling - to do a Joseph Campbell cat today, using one of Joseph Campbell's most famous words of wisdom.

I started with this graphic from the Joseph Campbell Foundation:

Then I found a photo by Brad Esau of the beautiful Mrs. Bean (more about Brad and Mrs. Bean and more Mrs. Bean memes) and used Automotivator to make the graphic:

My general formula for my students is 

"Follow your bliss."

Find where it is,

and don't be afraid to follow it.

English: Growth mindset means... you chase your dreams.

I am excited about today's cat because this is the first in what will be a series of Mrs. Bean pictures! Mrs. Bean is the marvelous cat who belongs to my friend Brad Esau, and her life really is a story of the growth mindset in action. You can learn more about her at photographer Brad's SmugMug albums (Mrs. Bean and More Mrs. Bean), and you can read Mrs. Bean's story in her book at PhotoBox: A Year of Mrs. Bean. The photo is used by the kind permission of the author; you can follow Brad at Google+ (he is one of my G+ favorites for all the photos and writing he shares).

This photo is Mrs. Bean in Motion. As I add more, I'll label them: more Mrs. Bean memes. And thanks again, Brad, for letting me do this! Mrs. Bean will win new fans and admirers this way I hope!

Growth mindset means... you chase your dreams.

The earth . . . grows.

Alan Watts shares some profound meditations on growth in this video: Life From Above, and Beyond, with words from Alan Watts. I've embedded the video below! There is a really profound dimension to the idea of growth and what it means for human existence; you can use this video to ponder that philosophical sense of what a growth mindset could mean.

Then I found a photo by Brad Esau of the beautiful Mrs. Bean; this one is from the album Bean in Hope (more about Brad and Mrs. Bean and more Mrs. Bean memes).

The earth . . . grows.

Be sure to listen to / watch this video to really ponder the cosmic meaning of growth: