Joseph Campbell urged us to "Follow your bliss," but most of us don't. We often feel we have to make practical choices, thus putting our dreams on hold. This course demonstrates simple but powerful journal techniques to recover lost passions and discover new ones. In addition, we'll explore the lives of some exemplary people, such as Doug Engelbart and Buckminster Fuller, who have led intentional lives that fully illustrate what following passion means. Some of these extraordinary people might be the personal heroes of members of the class, which will give us a chance to share and explore them more deeply. We'll discover others by navigating through James Burke's Knowledge Web, which demonstrates the Six Degrees of Separation of creative people as portrayed in Burke's Connections books and television series (we'll have a chance to add our heroes to the Knowledge Web as well). In exploring these lives, we'll examine the creative process and the social aspects of innovation. We'll converse (in person with local creative folks, via live videoconference with Burke and others) and enjoy a field trip to Stanford's Buckminster Fuller archives for a guided tour through the remarkable collection of artifacts that showcase an exemplary life.
