Embracing Failure and Imagination

Like many people, I gobbled up each and every Harry Potter book as it was published. I marveled at J. K. Rowling's storytelling abilities, and how deep and complex the plotlines were. I mean, come on - the boy has to deal with terrorism and politcal corruption. And this is something many elementary school kids understand!

So I was eager to read Ms. Rowling's Harvard commencement address last June, titled The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination. The following passage sums up why I think everyone owes it to themselves to read this:

Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

It's when we engage our imagination that we're able to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and ask, "what would that really feel like?" There's certainly no lack of need for compassion and understanding in this world, and we need everyone's imaginations in full gear.