Time to Get Creative
I‘ve been many things in my life:
artist, sculptor, astronaut, cowboy, race car driver. I don't do very many of
these things these days. I sold my slot car set years ago, my father put my
“space ship” out in the garbage, and various other setbacks -- all victims of my
moving on from childhood.
The way we approach life as a child is
so very different from how we often end up. There was a time when, not only were
we all creative, we were enthusiastic about it. I was a great cowboy. I was also
quite good at drawing along with that guy who was on TV Tuesdays after
school.
The reality, of course, is that most
were passing interests. Others were simply opportunistic -- being an astronaut
or submarine captain was only possible between appliance delivery and garbage
day. As we mature, we tend to lose the urge to jump into practically anything
interesting. But growing out of childhood’s creative theme park is one thing.
How many of us have let ourselves grow out of creativity all together?
This brings to mind the adage “You
don't stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing”.
The same might be said of creativity. Maybe we don't stop being creative
because we're not very good at it, we're not very good at it because we stopped
being creative.
So why do we stop playing or stop
creating? Several reasons. One culprit is our internal critic. If we compare our
results to some ideal and feel it doesn't measure up, the inner critic might not
let us rest until we give up in despair.
An even more insidious factor is
systematic discouragement. Your parents told you not to do X. Your friends
mocked you because you liked Y. Teachers want you to do it their way, as does your
boss. And so, as we enter the adult world, we may have lost touch with our
creativity. Or maybe we just got out of the habit.
The good news is that all your
creativity is still there, perfectly intact. You just have to get reacquainted
with it. You have my permission.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home