Discovery.....

When you read books you never know what you are going to get. Even the worst book will give you understanding on bad books. Whenever I read a book I try and look for only one thing, that one nice big thing that will remain with me for a long time to come. Many a times it is something tangential to the core area of what the book wants to explore or propagate. I just finished reading the ‘Call of the Mall’ by Paco. His earlier book ‘why we buy’ was an outstanding book and I found this quite a let down by his standards but a great read nevertheless. This is a great compliment for the guy’s insightful thinking. But the one line that struck me the most is almost the last line in the book - Discovery is one of our most satisfying emotions. A fantastic insight. It is by no means a coincidence that we love lectures where the prof takes us on a journey of discovery. He knows what the results will be but the journey of us discovering is so fascinating. I too try and get tehkids to discover by themselves a lot of things. The only thing they need is a direction. Among the bets projects that I have received from the kids is when I give them a blank mandate, to research anything they want, start talking to a hundred people, discover seemingly unrelated insights and then focus on something they think is brilliant or astounding. These are normally the projects that get them most excited and they remember it for years to some. They love it and the learn so much because they have discovered insights themselves!!!!!
We also feel great joy in discovering a bargain, a great shirt, a lovely book, a nice place to eat etc …. The journey results in the exhilaration of discovery.
It also applies to office. We love bosses that let us experiment and let us discover by ourselves. It is called freedom at workplace. Hmmm… I have been doing a bit but also have been guilty of not doing it enough. Lets see. I have tried a lot to stay away but tightened noose when the run away has been far. How do I get to manage this? How would opposites reconcile here. Difficult but possible.
Same for parenting. Lets see if I can get Jispa to Discover a lot on her own…. Will only have to show her possibilities / directions. Will have to let her discover limitless joys / emotions / lands / games / stories and much more on her own…. After all DISCOVERY IS ONE OF OUR MOST SATISFYING EMOTIONS. What a commonsense insight. Always the most brilliant of insights seem like common sense in hindsight.