Hi All!
I was sitting and contemplating the fate of the Universe (Smile) when the thought crossed my mind as to what makes a person a "Creative". You might use the word talented, I like Creative. I define "Creative" very broadly as in taking one thing and turning it into something else. I know that is extremely broad, but I'm an inclusive person. Smile. I have had people look and my work and say,"I can never do that". I'll suggest that they grab some wire and just start playing around with it, no agenda. I have been saddened by the number of times the person will say I don't have any talent. Now mind you this person may be wearing a seed bead bracelet that they made, something I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole as seed beads hurt my eyes. I can't tell you how many times I have had this conversation and it really saddens me.
I've often wondered if its a confidence issue. You have to have an open mind that you are at least competent to learn the basics. My position is that everyone is a creative, you just have to find out what your creative talent is. No, you are not restricted to one talent. The problem comes in when folks for whatever reason don't have the confidence to try and find out what that talent is.
Take my youngest for example, she is known as an extremely talented artist (this is per Scottsdale Artist School, not proud Mommy). She wanted to expand to sports. She played volleyball, not well. She ran track, not well. She discovered cheer leading, stunting not dance. Now let me give you some background on why this is surprising. This is my daughter who from ages 2-8 would fall on a smooth surface, with no one near her. Her sister and I would wait for it to help her up. Yes, I had her eyes, hearing and balance checked, all perfect. Baby girl is extremely analytical. When she started school, she would sit and watch the other kids and then decide who she wanted to play with and what she wanted to play. She is also my child that you could set her meal and her dessert in front of her and dessert was not going to be touched until she finished eating her food. She is still the same way at 14. (Very old soul).
So, now Ms. Artist who had never shown any inclination towards coordination or dancing is excelling on her cheer team. Why because she was confident enough to not be afraid to fail.
Another example is a volunteer class that I taught at City North in north Phoenix. Grandparents, parents and kids ages 4-14 made up the participants. I took wire pliers and various items to give some examples. I told them I was only going to show then how to start and finish off the wire. What they would make was solely up to them. The adults groaned and stated they had no talent, the kids jumped right in. The finished projects that came out of this class were amazing. One Mother who had groaned the loudest made a perfect 5 inch peace sign. Another Mother wrote her name in wire perfectly, not an easy task. One kid took the wire and made a mask. I saw him a year later and he told me his mask is still hanging on his bedroom wall.
Creativity can be those biscuits that float out the oven or those "old world" crafting skills that have been handed down for generations in your family and you picked up the gauntlet and took it to a higher level. Told you everyone is Creative. Smile.
My bottom line on this is that you have to at least try whether you think you can do it or not. If you don't have confidence you can do it, FAKE IT and try.
What creative endeavor have you done that you didn't know or think you could do? Leave a comment and if there's a picture of it online leave a link.
Thanks
Michelle
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Sign up for our free newsletter!I was sitting and contemplating the fate of the Universe (Smile) when the thought crossed my mind as to what makes a person a "Creative". You might use the word talented, I like Creative. I define "Creative" very broadly as in taking one thing and turning it into something else. I know that is extremely broad, but I'm an inclusive person. Smile. I have had people look and my work and say,"I can never do that". I'll suggest that they grab some wire and just start playing around with it, no agenda. I have been saddened by the number of times the person will say I don't have any talent. Now mind you this person may be wearing a seed bead bracelet that they made, something I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole as seed beads hurt my eyes. I can't tell you how many times I have had this conversation and it really saddens me.
I've often wondered if its a confidence issue. You have to have an open mind that you are at least competent to learn the basics. My position is that everyone is a creative, you just have to find out what your creative talent is. No, you are not restricted to one talent. The problem comes in when folks for whatever reason don't have the confidence to try and find out what that talent is.
Take my youngest for example, she is known as an extremely talented artist (this is per Scottsdale Artist School, not proud Mommy). She wanted to expand to sports. She played volleyball, not well. She ran track, not well. She discovered cheer leading, stunting not dance. Now let me give you some background on why this is surprising. This is my daughter who from ages 2-8 would fall on a smooth surface, with no one near her. Her sister and I would wait for it to help her up. Yes, I had her eyes, hearing and balance checked, all perfect. Baby girl is extremely analytical. When she started school, she would sit and watch the other kids and then decide who she wanted to play with and what she wanted to play. She is also my child that you could set her meal and her dessert in front of her and dessert was not going to be touched until she finished eating her food. She is still the same way at 14. (Very old soul).
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| Cheer team stunting |
So, now Ms. Artist who had never shown any inclination towards coordination or dancing is excelling on her cheer team. Why because she was confident enough to not be afraid to fail.
Another example is a volunteer class that I taught at City North in north Phoenix. Grandparents, parents and kids ages 4-14 made up the participants. I took wire pliers and various items to give some examples. I told them I was only going to show then how to start and finish off the wire. What they would make was solely up to them. The adults groaned and stated they had no talent, the kids jumped right in. The finished projects that came out of this class were amazing. One Mother who had groaned the loudest made a perfect 5 inch peace sign. Another Mother wrote her name in wire perfectly, not an easy task. One kid took the wire and made a mask. I saw him a year later and he told me his mask is still hanging on his bedroom wall.
 |
| Peace sign made of bullets. Creepy but creative |
 | |
| Coffee bean Peace sign |
My bottom line on this is that you have to at least try whether you think you can do it or not. If you don't have confidence you can do it, FAKE IT and try.
What creative endeavor have you done that you didn't know or think you could do? Leave a comment and if there's a picture of it online leave a link.
Thanks
Michelle
Her meal and her dessert in front of her and dessert was not going to be touched until she finished eating her food. She is still the same way at 14.
ReplyDeleteI think the analogy with your daughter is a great one--that people hold themselves back from all kinds of things because they're just so afraid to "fall." And I think you're right too--everyone has creative potential. I have always been a creative person--I was a writer, then a lighting designer, now a jewelry designer. So I am what the world think of as a "creative person," but that doesn't mean that the process of creating always comes easily to me. Sometimes everyone has a creative lull i.e. writer's block. But you don't have to get stuck there--the challenge is always pushing forward, not being afraid to do something "stupid" or to fail. Great post :)
ReplyDelete@imprint by elieen Thank you and I agreed wholeheartedly with your comment. Sometimes the best lessons are learned through failure. We have to push through the "fear" and the blocks.
ReplyDelete