“I am of the opinion that all of us are artists at our core.
Certainly, we start out that way. From a very young age, we all sing,
dance, draw and—as soon as possible—tell outrageous stories.
Inspiration surrounds us—pots and pans, shapes and shadows, the cat,
the dog, dirt. And music, of course; other people’s music and our own.
Ask a room full of five-year-olds if they are creative and you’ll see all
hands shoot up—some wildly—to a proud chorus of “I am!” Children
know they are artists.
Then something happens.
By middle school, if you ask the same question—“are you creative?”—
only half as many hands will raise—and very few voices will shout out.
By the end of high school, the hands are even fewer and more
tentatively raised—even in Los Angeles.
Conformity crushes creativity. Too many of us become embarrassed
and scared, or worse, disengaged and disinterested.
Think of all we miss!
But what if we never stopped believing in our own imaginations?
What if we were fearless about sharing our wildest thoughts, darkest
dreams, deepest desires?
What if we mastered as many arts as we could—and then made up
new ones?”
Michael Ritchie (Artistic Director of The Black Rider)
4 Responses
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Amen!
I think that we have just stopped believing and we have become impotent beings! We don’t believe in ourselves and we have lost the confidence to create and imagine and we have lost our fighting spirit! What I do know Ryan is that it is humandoings like you who help me remember that I am creative, and that I am unfinished!
“I question whether we are predetermined beings or simply conditioned ones, and also if we are able to recognize both conditioning itself and its power and thus to go beyond it. I question whether we are beings merely adapting to reality, mimicking ones, or, on the contrary, active ones, curious, and capable of running transforming risks, so that we end up equipped to intervene in the world rather than simply settle for it.” Paulo Freire
I wonder these same things (btw, got here via Johnny Beloved). I am not sure all of us are created creative in the sense of the arts, but all were created in God’s image who has done some pretty amazing work…you should see my kids! BUT I do know as time goes on for some of us, we drift from our creativity and sometimes never get it back. For me I fight for it daily, even as I put on a tie and sit behind a desk. I keep a guitar pick in my pocket to remind me of who I am.
Peace,
Lionel
Thanks so much for stopping by Lionel. God sure has created some beautiful masterpieces (water, air, fruit, supernovas, human beings…). I’d say those things are pretty dang creative. But I dont think that all creativity is what we would typically cal “art”. What about creative solutions you come up with while sitting behind your desk in your tie? What about crazy songs you make up to sing to your kids so they will stop crying? What about interesting ways you find to tell your wife you love her? These pieces of creativity seem to get lost in the hustle and bustle of “art”, but they are still greatly important and shouldnt be discounted for one second.