Welcome to Learning Event #8 (#LE8) for #WalkMyWorld 2021. In this journey we’ll think about the story of you…told from past, present, and future.

Magnum opus is a Latin term that is defined as someone’s greatest life achievement. It is the highest intersection of talent, skill, and hard work when someone reaches their maximum potential at the exact right time in the exact right place.

The challenge is to identify what you love to do, things you’re good at and things people will pay you to do.

An example of a magnum opus is the piece Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? by Paul Gauguin.

In the manner of a sacred scroll written in an ancient language, the painting is to be read from right to left: from the sleeping infant—where we come from—to the standing figure in the middle—what we are—and ending at the left with the crouching old woman—where we are going.

Another example of a magnum opus is the album Illmatic by Nas, considered by some to be the greatest hip-hop album of all time. One of the songs on the album, The World Is Yours, is considered to be one of the greatest hip-hop songs ever recorded. The lyrics for the track are available here.

These works are a deliberate mixture of universal meaning. The questions asked are fundamental ones that address the very root of human existence. We’ve been exploring those concepts together in our learning events for WalkMyWorld 2021.

WRITE

This reminds me of Ikigai, or the Japanese concept around a “reason for being.”

To find your Ikigai, take some time to think and write about the following prompts:

1. What do I love? (passion)
2. What am I good at? (vocation)
3. What can I be paid for? (profession)
4. What does the world need? (mission)

After you spend some time reflecting, write a piece that identifies what makes you come alive.

We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

Buddha

CONNECT

After you finish your poem…share this out with others.

You should share this out on Twitter as Write.As using the hashtag #WalkMyWorld. You should also include the hashtag #LE8 to indicate your response to this learning event.

Write a poem that shares your thinking about your masterpiece. Share your poem as a Google Document ready for feedback. 

Present your piece in our semi-private group in Flipgrid. Send me an email and I’ll bring you in.

Enjoy and connect with each other online.

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