by: Gina Bello

Last year I received a gift. It was this great little book and let’s just say that I love books; I am an avid reader. Compact sized, easily held in one hand and a deliciously quick read entitled Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling. Although I have not read the wildly famous Harry Potter books, I have watched and enjoyed every movie ever made in that series (many of them a few times over). Talk about imagination!

Ms. Rowling’s theme for this book is centered on her commencement address to the 2008 graduates of Harvard University. In contemplating words of wisdom she wished to impress upon these young and ambitious students of life, in this enlightening account she shares beliefs regarding the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination.

Regarding her belief in the benefits of failure, she describes her own life’s experiences having failed miserably roughly 7 years upon graduating from her own University. She recounts how her marriage came to end; she was jobless and a single parent living very poorly. Her parents’ worst nightmare had come to pass.