Engaging The Passion

Engaging the Passion gathers an impressive array of scholars to survey how the death of Jesus has been portrayed and represented in Scripture, liturgy and music, literature, art and film, and theology and ethics—from the first to the twenty-first centuries. The contributors approach the passion from a variety of perspectives—diversely Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and secular. Their voices differ as well, from the challenging to the comforting and from the academic to the confessional. They address the faithful, the skeptical, and the curious.

A hands-on manual for discovering what makes you tick and going after your dreams Finding Your Passion For Dummies offers you guidance and practical advice on how to identify and pursue your passion. With exercises to help you understand your values, interests, and natural talents, you can identify what you are passionate about—at any age. This self-discovery process will help you find more happiness, and a sense of purpose and direction in life. When you find your passion, you’ll be able to pursue it in a way that aligns with your values and interests. This book provides the motivation, the inspiration, and the how-to. In the friendly Dummies style you know and love, you’ll get guidance on setting goals, exploring your interests, pursuing education, and overcoming any obstacles that stand between you and what you really want out of life. Identify your natural skills and talents Discover hobbies and activities that excite you Learn how to overcome obstacles as you change your life Embrace your authentic self and gain the courage to live fully This book is for anyone looking to discover a life path that will lead to true fulfillment. Finding Your Passion For Dummies is great for recent graduates, mid-career professionals looking for a change, and for anyone looking to find more meaning in life.

"Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education is filled with bold approaches to giving students the ingredients they most lack in their schooling--a sense of purpose, a reason for wanting to learn and, ultimately, a passion to help others." --Arianna Huffington "Schools and environmental organizations need young people like Anna Cummins with the intelligence and commitment to get things done. Her two chapters in this book are a welcome addition to the eco canon." --Jeremy Jackson "The title of this book captures Emily Cummins's life and work--passion and engagement in meaningful service." --Claudia Villegas-Avalos "Our educational system badly needs some bold thinking. Paul Cummins's vision of what American education could be is imaginative and inspiring." --Howard Zinn

The creator of the Unmistakable Creative podcast makes a counterintuitive argument: By focusing your creative work on pleasing yourself, you can increase your productivity, happiness, and (eventually, paradoxically) the size of your audience. Creating for your own pleasure--whether you're writing a novel, composing songs, or painting a landscape--can seem pointless. It's tempting to focus on pursuing money and fame, rather than the process itself. But as Srini Rao warns, creating then turns into a chore that can harm your self-esteem and suck the pleasure out of life, rather than being a source of joy. Rao, host of the podcast The Unmistakable Creative, argues that we should counter this thinking by intentionally creating art for ourselves alone--an audience of one. In this book he shares the fascinating true stories of creatives who took this path, along with actionable tips and the research of creativity experts. You'll learn, for example: • How Oprah's intentional focus on her own work rather than the opinions of everyone else catapulted her into one of the most popular talk shows of all time. • How being process-driven can not only help you produce more work, but can make you happier outside of your creative time. • How to put together a creative "team of rivals" whose feedback can help you hone your craft and filter out useless feedback. By playing to an audience of one, we can find more happiness, increased productivity, and a greater sense of community.

The concept of passion is one we regularly use to describe our interests, and yet there is no broad theory that can explain the development and consequences of passion for activities across people's lives. In The Psychology of Passion, Robert J. Vallerand presents the first such theory, providing a complete presentation of the Dualistic Model of Passion and the empirical evidence that supports it. Vallerand conceives of two types of passion: harmonious passion, which remains under the person's control, and obsessive passion, which controls the person. While the first typically leads to adaptive behaviors, the obsessive form of passion leads to less adaptive and, at times, maladaptive behaviors. Vallerand highlights the effects of these two types of passion on a number of psychological phenomena, such as cognition, emotions, performance, relationships, aggression, and violence. He also discusses the development of passion and reviews a range of literature on passion for activities.

The methods of attaining great heights are frequently discussed, with many postulations propounded by pundits and individuals of phenomenal accomplishments, yet reaching the pinnacle of such heights remains ever so elusive to the masses; hence, only a select few are able to make these extraordinary strides. In Drive to Passion, Ted Obomanu chronicles the lives of a few highly accomplished individuals: - Harland Sanders, a perfectionist, who was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC); - Winston Churchill, the vivacious and popular prime minister of Britain, who led his country to victory during the Second World War; - Joseph Kennedy, patriarch of the Kennedy clan, business mogul, and kingmaker; - Sidney Poitier, acclaimed actor and the first African-American movie star to receive an Oscar in a leading role; - Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of the United States, responsible for the abolition of slavery; - Suze Orman, financial guru and popular TV host who epitomizes passion; - Barack Obama, the first African-American president of the United States, who accomplished this unprecedented feat despite its improbability; - Oprah Winfrey, owner of a TV network, one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world, and was the host and producer of one of the most popular TV shows ever. Obomanu does this to explore firsthand how these individuals were able to reach the summit of their vocations. He also turns the chronicling of these great individuals' lives into an intriguing narrative, without compromising the lessons. Obomanu makes significant findings in this book: Passion more than anything else is responsible for success and greatness, which is self-evident in the lives of the great individuals he chronicles; to attain distinction, the quest for passion should always be centered around a niche; passion is fueled by drive, and a shift in focus from passion to the rewards of accomplishments, such as wealth, may potentially derail the attainment of success and greatness; mentors play a huge role in the accomplishment of our goals. At the conclusion of this great reading, Obomanu delves into how spirituality and personal development can greatly enhance the quest for passion and how the pursuit of passion can trigger happiness and longevity. He sums up by asserting that the aspiration of success and greatness should be driven by all the components of passion to ensure its sustainability and potential value to society.

This book concentrates on the 'heart' of teaching; teachers' moral purposes, the nature of care, emotional commitment and motivation - celebrating and acknowledging the best teaching and the best teachers.

Doing Respectful Research is situated within a critical, feminist postmodern framework and addresses the complexities of conducting respectful qualitative research with human participants. Three themes overlap and inform chapter discussions: developing a critical reflexivity, understanding the distance dynamic and engaging in respectful research praxis. The text illustrates how power, privilege and passion influence decisions about what gets researched, who is positioned as researcher or participant and how data are collected, analyzed and ultimately represented in public ways. Tilley explores the intersecting elements of the research process, which include deciding on a research focus and articulating research questions; choosing an appropriate research site and participants; collecting, analyzing and representing data; and making decisions about the dissemination and publication of findings. She emphasizes the dilemmas researchers experience when faced with issues of respectful representation of data, participants and research contexts. Unique to the book are the comprehensive discussions of the advisement process and the student-advisor relationship and Tilley’s use of her doctoral research to carefully illustrate elements of the research process. Each chapter ends with an annotated bibliography of relevant research connected to concepts addressed in the chapter. Tilley offers a comprehensive consideration of research ethics, including guidance for the completion of institutional requirements for review of research involving human participants and an exploration of the complicated ethical issues that emerge during the research process. Doing Respectful Research is written for student researchers, individuals who teach and advise students, instructors of qualitative research courses in social sciences, health and education, and community members interested in qualitative methods and conducting research.