"The Angel Inside: Michelangelo's Secrets For Following Your Passion and Finding the Work You Love" by Chris Widener is a simple book to read, in fact you can easily read through it in a single sitting, however it is also a book that contains some profound lessons if you decide to act upon them and apply the advice to your own life. (This book was previously released as "The Angel Inside: Michelangelo, Il Gigante, and Creating a Life of Power and Beauty")
As a story, it is a simple yarn regarding an American tourist, Tom Cook, in Florence, Italy, the last city of his European tour. Tom is not happy with his life, and hoped a vacation to Europe would help relieve some of the pressures that faced him back home. Not really finding what he was looking for, he luckily (if one believes in luck) meets an elderly gentleman who takes a liking to young Tom, and tells him to follow him to see Il Gigante and learn from Michelangelo, and then, "This day will forever change your life."
The two head off to see the great work of art, and throughout the day, into dinner, and before retiring for the evening, the old man teaches Tom lessons through the great works of art, using Michelangelo as an example.
The lessons are universal and include: Find the Angel Within You, Follow your own passion, be confident in your strength, The beauty is in the details, The hand creates what the mind conceives, Plan and prepare, Start with swift action, Embrace the stages of chipping, sculpting, sanding and polishing, Sometimes success takes years, so be content, and No one starts with the Sistine Chapel.In just over 100 pages, Widner shares these lessons succinctly, and in an enjoyable story format. Sure, these lessons have been shared and passed on in various ways by many people, but Widner's approach is fun and easy, and if you take just a short time to read this story and remind yourself of how important these things really are, you will undoubtedly be glad you did. I enjoy reading books like this with positive lessons and messages to help keep positive. We are bombarded all the time with negative news, and I think it helps to continue to reinforce the positive with uplifting books.
If you want to ponder on the lessons in this book a bit, and reflect on how you are incorporating these into your own life (something I recommend strongly, all of us need to look at our lives now and again and ensure we are creating the lives we want), Widner included a few pages of questions to ask yourself. This small "workbook" section of the text is worth spending a little time with. Taking the time to answer the questions to yourself, and to truthfully reflect on those answers, is an exercise that has potential to yield great results. That is, if you then decide to ACT on that thinking and reflecting. Maybe that is why Widner's last question is, "What are three actions you can take today or this month to begin to allow The Angel Inside of you to shine through?" Read the book, answer the questions, and then above all: Do Those Things!
The Angel Inside - Michelangelo's Secrets For Following Your Passion and Finding the Work You Love