A first-grader’s journey of the numbers, and how Coelho and Lynne reached the Element

A human being, the writer says, is already born with infinite potential and creativity, and with talent and passion. There is a memory of teaching a first-grade child and being greatly surprised by that child’s imagination. With the numbers from one to ten the child, drawing pictures on the spot, told a picture-story called “The Journey of the Numbers.” Expressions and actions were drawn on each number, and for a full thirty minutes the child told of the numbers’ lives and deaths, their warm friendship, and various adventures. The writer felt then that the imagination coming from an eight-year-old’s head was enormous. The child had never formally learned art, and yet expressed motion and expression very finely. The writer, an adult, given the numbers from one to ten and asked to draw a picture-story and tell it, doubts they could talk for even ten minutes at most. The writer remembers drawing imaginary pictures quite a bit as a child — when, then, did they become this boxed-in, as simple and uniform as a machine?

The book The Element deals with the stories of people successful in various fields: Paul McCartney, Richard Branson, Paulo Coelho, Richard Feynman, Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of the musical Cats, and others. Through in-depth interviews with those people the book explores how they reached the Element, and also why the majority of people do not reach it. Ken Robinson, who holds that every human being is creative and is born with various intelligences, diagnoses, with a humor of his own, the personal, social, and cultural conditions that suffocate our potential, and presents methods and conditions by which we ourselves can discover the Element. The book shows that there is no age too late for discovering the Element, and that no serious disability or harsh environment can ever be a stumbling block. It also holds that, for the future of individuals and of humanity, creativity and innovation must be strengthened. That is, in the twenty-first century the Element must be discovered for a better life, and anyone can discover it. The author presents a strong solution for how we should do this. The book is made of eleven chapters in all; each chapter, through the stories of people successful in various fields, explores how those people reached the Element. Titles are — the talk How Schools Kill Creativity, and the book The Element — without inventing unstated years.

Among the people introduced, the story of Paulo Coelho, a writer the essayist likes greatly, and the story of Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of the musical Cats, gave the writer emotion and a realization. The writer remembers reading Coelho’s book The Alchemist a few years ago — left undated. It felt like a grandfather with deep spiritual reflection, a deep humanistic cultivation, and a very rich social experience, gently unfolding his thoughts to his own son; questions people often worry about were taken as themes and made into a novel. After reading that book the writer stayed up all night reflecting on life and death and thinking about the path of a life. And then the writer came to read Coelho’s other books avidly as well. All of his books were made with that feeling, and that was quite new to the writer. Then, reading this book, the writer was surprised to learn that Coelho’s adolescence had been very depressive. His parents forcibly hospitalized him in a psychiatric ward and had him receive electroshock therapy. The reason was that, at a teenage age, he passionately wanted to become a writer. The Coelho couple believed that was a waste of life, and they hoped he would become a lawyer. Paulo Coelho continued writing despite fierce family opposition. And he was enormously successful. If he had only set his mind to it he might have succeeded as a lawyer. But he did not. He chose a rough path, even endured the experience of having brain cells destroyed, and that decision led to a high level of achievement. He focused on his own Element, and he is now a worldwide bestseller.

Cats, which Gillian Lynne made, is also no exaggeration to call the most innovative musical in the musical world; that people express a cat’s behavior in dance was praised as most groundbreaking. The writer has seen part of the musical as a video. Makeup aside, each person occupies the stage as a distinctive cat, and people who saw the musical in person say they cannot forget the emotion of that time. Even only on video a thrill was felt, the writer says, and that is enough. But Gillian Lynne too, as a child, was scolded by teachers and parents as being at the level of a disabled person with scattered attention and a deficit in behavior. In the eyes of the adults, that she would later become a fantastic musical choreographer would have been something they could not have imagined even in a dream. The writer thought that if these people had been born in Korea, they might have been stamped as “a problem child who studies terribly, is extremely scattered, and only harms surrounding students,” unrecognized by classmates and teachers, and might have lived a so-so life and ended.

An art class at a hagwon, Confucian opposition at home, and why it is not too late

In fact, when the writer once worked as an art instructor teaching elementary students at a hagwon, they were busy putting into the children’s heads and hands the knowledge the school wanted, or that the hagwon told them to teach, rather than the children’s creative thinking. By the character of education in this country, all education is mainly injection-style, and students who cannot properly carry out that subject, even if they stand out in another subject, do not shine unless they have outstanding skill, an innate talent, or wealth. Even if a child’s sensibility and creativity were discovered in kindergarten or in the early grades of elementary school, from the moment a parent or a teacher blocks it the child has their wings broken into a uniform appearance, like a product stamped out in a factory. This is the same in the past and now. These days, because individuality is so much pursued and occupational lines that use a person’s own talent have also increased, they tend to be recognized, but in conservative groups even that is often ignored as ‘a dauber’ or ‘a mere entertainer.’ For people born with a temperament toward the arts and physical education, the world is cold. Until they succeed, the treatment they receive is “a fool who cannot study, thinks other thoughts all day, and cannot do anything.” Tuition paid for them, and expectations and interest, take priority over care for their creativity, imagination, and potential. It is a situation in which children’s Element cannot be exercised even if it wanted to. The author, the writer says, has a firm belief that all living people are born with enormous potential. The writer too agrees. Talking with children, drawing pictures, and listening to their thoughts, the writer finds themselves, before they know it, in the world of childlike innocence. Even when worn down by the world, the face turned an earth color, listening to children’s stories heals. The pure and fantastic world of children’s innocence all shines, is beautiful, and is dazzlingly bright. What is regrettable is that this world of children is losing its light, one by one, because of the education system. Education is supposed to develop children further and grow them, and yet because of that education they lose their light — a contradiction. Art education too is very standardized, a reality that cannot show children more colors and images. Education is given to grow creativity and imagination, but at some moment what they are drawing is not their own pictures but the pictures the world wants.

The aim of this book is to present a richer vision of human potential and creativity, and of the advantages when an individual’s talent and passion are pursued together. The book talks about issues of essential importance in our lives, in children’s lives, in our students’ lives, and in the lives of people we work with. The author used the term “Element” to designate the point where an individual’s passion and talent meet. He believes we all must discover our own Element. It will not only make our lives fuller; in the future world the fate of our society and of our organizations will come to depend entirely on it. The book is a hymn to the amazing diversity of human talent and passion, and a hymn to our infinite potential for growth and development. It is also a book for understanding environmental factors that can make human talent flourish or wither and die. It is a book about how we can all be more faithfully present to the given present, and prepare for a completely unpredictable future. For the best expression of ourselves and of each other, we must right now accept a more comprehensive standard for conceptualizing human ability. We must accept the concept of the Element. But unfortunately many people still want, for their own needs, talent that is creative and from which ideas burst out, and yet they do not do the education that would raise such talent, and are only busy continuing the old customs they have followed until now. Even if a child strongly expresses and claims their Element, Korean parents who have lived in a Confucian society consistently oppose it. With their mouths they say they want to push and wish children to live as they intend, and yet when those children actually want to live that way they teach that it is a shortcut to ruining a life, so still the students of this country become adults under such parents without even knowing what their potential is. On this problem the author asks back, “What price would you willingly pay?” This is not a question thrown only at students. It is a question for the parents and educators raising those students, and for job-seekers facing employment, and for companies hiring talent, to think about. The author says the reward of the Element is enormous, but to gather that reward one must be able to shake off stubborn opposition and obstruction. It is a claim that clearly shows that if one felt one has the Element, situational things are no excuse.

Many people rationalize, “In my heyday I was this kind of person! Now I am nothing special.” The author’s claim is a painful remark that makes such a rationalization pale, but one cannot deny that the words are right. In fact, knowing that one is good at something, and that one has a passion for it, is knowing a shortcut to discovering the Element. Of course that alone is not enough. Reaching the Element depends fundamentally on how one looks at oneself and at the events of life. The Element is also a matter of attitude. So to some people, those who have discovered the Element look like greatly blessed people, or lucky ones. But that is only a minority. We all inevitably go through both good things and bad. What changes our lives is not the events themselves that happened to us. It is our attitude toward what happened that changes life. The concept of luck is a powerful way of well explaining the importance of a basic attitude that affects whether one will discover the Element or not. Therefore, rather than comparing or judging myself against another person, finding what my Element is now and expressing it can produce a more positive result. But it may also be hard to discover the Element by oneself. Adults who have already gone through socialization find it hard even to talk about their strengths and weaknesses. They find it hard even to introduce themselves in a self-introduction letter, learn how to write, and pay money to take lectures. It is the result of being hell-bent, throughout the school years, on raising an English score by five points, rather than on discovering what their Element is. Rather than going to a good university to hear good lectures, they take lectures that give good grades, and take classes that help them get a job at a company rather than classes for thinking and reflection. Then, when it is time for employment, fire falls on their feet.

Even a student who is in the midst of growing, without a deep reflection on themselves, finds it hard to discover their Element. At such times a life-changing encounter brings a tremendous opportunity. Meeting a mentor is a groundbreaking thing in life. Mentors often appear at a timely moment. But sometimes the person receiving mentoring also actively chooses a mentor. The way and the period in which we form a connection with a mentor vary. Mentors notice and discover our individual talents and aptitudes. And always beside us they encourage that if we just work hard we can achieve anything. They give advice, teach methods, open the way ahead, and sometimes give generously. A capable mentor makes us go beyond our limits. A true mentor reminds us that our goal must never stop at ‘average.’ The writer, as an educator, thought whether they had become such a mentor to children. They also thought whether they had tried being a passionate mentee whom a mentor could find. Unfortunately they have not yet become either a mentor or a mentee. Many people worry. They sincerely hope to do meaningful, rewarding work, but hesitate because of their age. Even if they have found their Element through a mentor or through self-reflection, they think that suddenly turning the course of life in a new direction is not realistic. Then, after time has passed, they think they have already missed the golden opportunity they should have sincerely pursued. But life is not linear, and numerous paths are given in front of us. Whatever the age, it is never too late. Using skills already possessed now, and skills one can acquire in order to make a meaningful contribution to that world, one can achieve the Element. Discovering the Element is essential to living a harmonious, satisfying life. It also helps in understanding who we truly are. Being in the Element, one can live a more dynamic and organic life. Different parts of our lives are not separate and isolated; they interact and affect each other. Whenever in life one is in the Element, the view of oneself changes considerably. So whether all day or a short time, time in the Element has a considerable effect on our own lives and on the lives of people around us. If the writer first finds the Element and expresses positive energy, the children influenced by them will also gradually change, and people who, in the same position, have a will for education will also gradually change. It is not too late yet. Like the saying that beginning is half, and like the saying that if it does not work one should make it work, and if there is no path one should make one, if from now things are solved one by one, the environment too will be better today than yesterday, the writer thinks. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.

Sources

1. A human being is already born, at birth, with infinite potential and creativity, and with talent and passion. There is a memory of teaching a first-grade elementary child and being greatly surprised by that child’s imagination. With the numbers from one to ten the child, drawing pictures on the spot, told me a picture-fairy-tale called “The Journey of the Numbers.” Expressions and actions were drawn one by one on the numbers, and for a full thirty minutes the child told of the numbers’ lives and deaths, their warm friendship, and various adventures. At that time I felt that the imagination coming from an eight-year-old child’s head was enormous. That child, even though they had never formally learned art, expressed motion and expression very finely. If I, an adult, were given the numbers from one to ten and asked to draw them as a picture-fairy-tale and tell the story, I doubt whether I could talk for even about ten minutes at the longest. I too remember that when I was young I drew imaginary pictures quite a bit, but when did I become, before I knew it, this boxed-in, as simple and uniform as a machine? The book The Element deals with the stories of people successful in various fields: Paul McCartney, Richard Branson, Paulo Coelho, Richard Feynman, Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of the musical Cats, and others. Through in-depth interviews with the people above, this book explores how they reached the Element. It also explores why the majority of people do not reach the Element. Ken Robinson, who holds that every human being is creative and that each is born with various intelligences, diagnoses, with a humor of his own, the personal, social, and cultural conditions that suffocate our potential, and presents methods and conditions by which we ourselves can discover the Element. This book shows that there is no age too late for discovering the Element, and that no serious disability or harsh environment can ever be a stumbling block. It also holds that, for the future of individuals and of humanity, creativity and innovation must be strengthened. That is, in the twenty-first century the Element must be discovered for a better life, and anyone can discover it. As to how we should do that, the author presents a strong solution for it. The composition of this book is made of the content of eleven chapters in all. In each chapter, through the stories of people successful in various fields, it explores how those people reached the Element. Among the people introduced, the story of Paulo Coelho, a writer I like greatly, and the story of Gillian Lynne, the choreographer of the musical Cats, gave me emotion and a realization. I remember reading Coelho’s book The Alchemist a few years ago. With a writing style as if a grandfather with deep spiritual reflection, a deep humanistic cultivation, and a very rich social experience were gently unfolding his thoughts to his own son, questions people often worry about were taken as themes and novelized. After reading that book I stayed up all night reflecting on life and death and came to think about the path of a life. And then I came to read Coelho’s other books avidly as well in succession. All of his books were composed with that feeling, and that was quite a new memory for me. Then, reading this book, I was surprised to learn the fact that his adolescence had been very depressive. His parents forcibly hospitalized him in a psychiatric ward and had him receive electroshock therapy. The reason was that, at a teenage age, he passionately wanted to become a writer. The Coelho couple believed that was a waste of life. And they hoped he would become a lawyer. Paulo Coelho continued writing, defying fierce family opposition. And he was enormously successful. If he had only set his mind to it he might have succeeded as a lawyer. But he did not do so. He chose a rough path, even endured the experience of having brain cells destroyed, and a decision of that kind led to a high level of achievement. He focused on his own Element, and he has now become a worldwide bestseller. Also, Cats, which Gillian Lynne made, is no exaggeration to call the most innovative musical in the musical world, and that people express a cat’s behavior in dance was praised as most groundbreaking. I have seen part of the musical as a video. Makeup aside, each person occupies the stage as a distinctive cat, and a person who saw the musical in person at that place is said to be unable to forget the emotion of that time. Even only on video a thrill was felt, and that is enough said. But Gillian Lynne too, as a child, was scolded by teachers and parents as being at the level of a disabled person with scattered attention and a deficit in behavior. In the eyes of the adults, that she would later become a fantastic musical choreographer would have been a matter they could not have imagined even in a dream. I thought that if these people had been born in Korea, they might have been stamped as “a problem child who studies terribly, is extremely scattered, and only harms surrounding students,” unrecognized by classmates and teachers, and might have lived a so-so life and ended. In fact, when I once worked as an art instructor teaching elementary students at a hagwon, I was busy putting into those children’s heads and hands the knowledge information the school wanted, or that the hagwon told me to teach, rather than the children’s creative thinking. By the character of education in this country, all education is mainly injection-style education, and students who cannot properly carry out that subject, even if they stand out in another subject, do not shine unless they have outstanding skill, an innate talent, or wealth. Even if that child’s sensibility and creativity were discovered in kindergarten or in the early grades of elementary school, from the moment a parent or a teacher blocks it that child has their wings broken into a uniform appearance, like a product stamped out in a factory. This is the same in the past and now. These days, because individuality is so much pursued and occupational lines that use a person’s own talent have also increased, they tend to be recognized, but in conservative groups even that is often ignored as ‘a dauber’ or ‘a mere entertainer.’ For people born with a temperament toward the arts and physical education, the world is cold. Until they succeed, the treatment they receive is “a fool who cannot study, thinks other thoughts all day, and cannot do anything.” Rather than caring about their creativity, imagination, and potential, the tuition that went into them and expectations and interest take priority. It is a situation in which children’s Element cannot be exercised even if it wanted to. The author says he has a firm belief that all living people are born with enormous potential. I too agree with the author’s words. Talking with children, drawing pictures, and listening to the children’s thoughts, I find myself, before I know it, in the world of childlike innocence. Even when I am worn down by the world and even my face has turned an earth color, listening to children’s stories I am healed before I know it. The pure and fantastic world of children’s innocence all shines, is beautiful, and is dazzlingly bright. What is regrettable is that this world of children is losing its light, one by one, because of the education system. Education is supposed to develop children further and grow them, and yet because of that education they lose their light — a contradiction. Art education too is very standardized, a reality that cannot show children more colors and images. Education is given to grow creativity and imagination, but at some moment what they are drawing is not their own pictures but the pictures the world wants. The aim of this book is to present a somewhat richer vision of human potential and creativity, and of the advantages when an individual’s talent and passion are pursued together. This book talks about issues that have essential importance in our lives, in children’s lives, in our students’ lives, and in the lives of people we work with. The author used the term “Element” to designate the point where an individual’s passion and talent meet. I believe we all must discover our own Element. It is because it will not only make our lives fuller, but in the future world the fate of our society and of our organizations will come to depend entirely on it. This book is a hymn to the amazing diversity of human talent and passion, and a hymn to our infinite potential for growth and development. This book is also a book for understanding environmental factors that can make human talent flourish or wither and die. This book is a book about how we can all be more faithfully present to the given present, and can also prepare for a completely unpredictable future. For the best expression of ourselves and of each other, we must right now accept a more comprehensive standard for conceptualizing human ability. We must accept the concept of the Element. But unfortunately many people still want, for their own needs, talent that is creative and from which ideas burst out, and yet they do not do the education that would raise such talent, and are only busy continuing the old customs they have followed until now. Even if a child strongly expresses and claims their Element, Korean parents who have lived in a Confucian society consistently oppose it. With their mouths they say they want to push and wish children to live as they intend, and yet when those children actually want to live that way they teach that it is a shortcut to ruining a life, so still the students of this country become adults under such parents without even knowing what their potential is. On that problem the author asks back, “What price would you willingly pay?” This is not a question thrown only at students. It is a question to think about among the parents and educators raising those students, and among job-seekers facing employment, and companies hiring talent, and the like. The author says the reward of the Element is enormous, but in order to gather that reward one must be able to shake off stubborn opposition and obstruction. It is a claim that clearly shows that if one felt one has the Element, situational things are no excuse. Many people rationalize, “In my heyday I was this kind of person! Now I am nothing special.” The author’s claim is a painful remark that makes such a rationalization pale, but one cannot deny the fact that those words are right. In fact, knowing that one is good at something, and that one has a passion for it, is knowing a shortcut to discovering the Element. Of course that alone is not enough. Reaching the Element depends fundamentally on how one looks at oneself and at the events of life. The Element is also a matter of attitude. So to some people, those who have discovered the Element look like greatly blessed people. Or they think they are lucky ones. But that is only a minority. We all inevitably go through both good things and bad. What changes our lives is not the events themselves that happened to us. It is our attitude toward what happened that changes life. The concept of luck is a powerful method that well explains the importance of a basic attitude that affects whether one will discover the Element or not. Therefore, rather than comparing or judging myself against another person, finding what my Element is now and expressing it can produce a more positive result. But it may also be hard to discover the Element by oneself. In the case of an adult who has already gone through socialization, even talking about one’s strengths and weaknesses is hard. Even introducing oneself in a self-introduction letter is hard, so they learn a method of writing and pay money to receive a lecture. It is the result of being hell-bent, throughout the school years, on raising an English score by five points, rather than on discovering what one’s Element is. Rather than going to a good university and hearing good lectures, they take lectures that give good grades, and take classes that help them get a job well at a company rather than classes for thinking and reflection. Then, when they come to get a job, fire falls on their feet. Even in the case of a student who is in the midst of growing, without a deep reflection on themselves they find it hard to discover their Element. At such times a life-changing encounter brings a tremendous opportunity. Meeting a ‘mentor’ is a groundbreaking matter in life. Mentors often appear at a timely moment. But sometimes the person receiving mentoring also actively chooses a mentor. The way and the period in which we form a connection with a mentor vary. Mentors notice and discover our individual talents and aptitudes. And always beside us they encourage that if we just work hard we can achieve anything. They give advice, teach methods, open the way ahead, and sometimes give generously. A capable mentor makes us go beyond our limits. A true mentor reminds us that our goal must never stop at ‘average.’ As an educator I thought whether I had become such a mentor to children. I also thought whether I had tried being a passionate mentee whom a mentor could find. Unfortunately I have not yet become either a mentor or a mentee. Many people worry. They sincerely hope to be able to do meaningful, rewarding work, but hesitate because of their age. Even if, whether through a mentor or through self-reflection, they have found their Element, they think that suddenly turning the course of life in a new direction is not realistic. Then, after time has passed, they think they have already missed the golden opportunity they should have sincerely pursued. But life is not linear, and numerous paths are given in front of me. Whatever the age, it is never too late. Using skills already possessed now, and skills I can acquire in order to make a meaningful contribution to that world, I can achieve the Element. Discovering the Element is an essential matter for living a harmonious, satisfying life. It also helps in understanding who we truly are. Being in the Element, one can live a more dynamic and organic life. The different parts of our lives are not separate and isolated; they interact and affect each other. Whenever in life one is in the Element, the view of looking at oneself changes considerably. So whether all day or a short time, time in the Element has a considerable effect on our own lives and on the lives of people around us. If I first find the Element and express positive energy, the children who receive influence from me will also gradually change, and people who, in the same position as me, have a will for education will also gradually change. It is not too late yet. Like the saying that beginning is half, and like the saying that if it does not work one should make it work, and if there is no path one should make one, if from now things are solved one by one, I think the environment too will be better today than yesterday.

Last updated: 14 November 2026