posting by Jana

One of the resources featured in this post is the theory of the growth mindset by Carol Dweck. **Dweck, C.S. & Leggett, E.L. (1988). A Social-Cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality**

I’m distracted as I write this, watching a magpie feed its fledgling on a branch outside my window. The young bird seems to be practicing foraging in between serves from the adult, picking away at the bark of the big pine. What are you noticing where you are?

Here are some resources for Ecozoic Living (learning to be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner) that came across my path this week. You’ll find more resources for each of these items further down the post.

the growth mindset
the Order of the Sacred Earth
Figuring, a new book from the creator of brainpickings.org

The Growth Mindset

In the learning department, I was introduced to the work of Carol Dweck on mindset, specifically the difference between a growth mindset and fixed mindset:

growth mindset - the understanding that abilities and intelligence can be developed

fixed mindset - the belief that traits, intelligence, talents are given or fixed

Here’s a quick intro video, followed by a few links to learn more.

Want to learn more?

Maria Popova summarises Dweck’s mindsets work here at brainpickings.org. (short)
This article in the Atlantic is about what the growth mindset is and isn’t. (medium)
Order a paperback copy of the book Mindset by Carol Dweck. (long)

The Order of the Sacred Earth

In conversation with a new friend over lunch in her back garden, with grunting male koalas for a soundtrack, I learned about an initiative founded by Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Listug to bring people together in a community of vowed commitment in service to Earth.

It’s a self-organising movement of people living the question of ‘how do we become the best lovers and defenders of the Earth possible’ (from founder Skylar Wilson in the video below).

Want to learn more?

Here’s a review of the book Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action. (short)
Interviews with the founders. (medium)
Buy the book. (long)

Figuring

One of my favourite in-box treats is the Sunday newsletter from brainpickings.org. In this week’s edition, blog creator Maria Popova introduces her new book, Figuring.

Figuring explores the complexities, varieties, and contradictions of love, and the human search for truth, meaning, and transcendence, through the interwoven lives of several historical figures across four centuries — beginning with the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of planetary motion, and ending with the marine biologist and author Rachel Carson, who catalyzed the environmental movement. Stretching between these figures is a cast of artists, writers, and scientists — mostly women, mostly queer — whose public contribution has risen out of their unclassifiable and often heartbreaking private relationships to change the way we understand, experience, and appreciate the universe. Among them are the astronomer Maria Mitchell, who paved the way for women in science; the sculptor Harriet Hosmer, who did the same in art; the journalist and literary critic Margaret Fuller, who sparked the feminist movement; and the poet Emily Dickinson.

Like her blog, Popova’s book is about ‘an inquiry into what it means to live a good life.’

Want to learn more?