Rags to riches
This phrase popped into my head this morning while I was thinking of the following:
Even though the various events might, at first glance, seem unrelated, I think that there is a theme or possibly two themes shared by all of the events. The themes which come to me mind are:
Daily I must examine whether I am willing to do what it takes to not only exercise my creative mind but to sharpen the tools which allow the written word to awaken a new dance in the mind of the reader. The hidden richness of the rags which someone has tossed into the trash will not be reborn into gold cloth without a lot of tedious, often unexciting work.
As parents, educators, aunts, uncles, mentors and friends we must support the creation of spaces such as Ms. Hogan and others brought together which will invite children to explore all the excitement and discipline which creativity demands and offers.
Written June 20, 2016
This phrase popped into my head this morning while I was thinking of the following:
- A wonderful arts festival in Wheeling, WV organized by such creative and giving folks as Susan Hogan which brought together the art of music, books, pottery, painting, metal creations, story-telling, play, wood carving and much more.
- Discussion with a wonderful artist friend Jeff Forrester about the hours and hours of intentional play/experiment with movement, lines and all that make up the interplay of all that exist - including our human dance.
- A new children’s book by Marc Harshman which is illustrated by Sara Palacios entitled One Big Family
- A Ted talk by Andrew Pelling who plays with garbage which gives him the parts for robots and other fun creations as well as vegetables which have the structure for exploring such possibilities as replacement ears. The title of the talk is “This scientist makes ears out of apples” If one listens one get excited about the structure of apples and asparagus - the roles they could play in treating we humans
- A Ted talk by Jamila Raqip entitled , “The secret to effective nonviolent resistance”. In her talk she discusses the fact that if non-violence is going to be effective we must formulate and put into action long term strategies and not just marches. One has to offer realistic alternatives.
- A comment on Sunday’s blog from my friend Dorene alluding to the fact that I need to have a refresher lesson about the use of nominal and objective pronouns. This means that I need to devote as much time to the basic rules of grammar as I do in the gestalt of the writing I do.
Even though the various events might, at first glance, seem unrelated, I think that there is a theme or possibly two themes shared by all of the events. The themes which come to me mind are:
- Creativity requires a suspension of the belief that we think we know someone or something.
- Creativity requires the hard word of consistently paying attention and a willingness to practice, practice, practice. For example, for Jeff to depict the movement of an amazing bird sculpture he had to spend hours exploring and attending to his own movement, balance and dance and them establish a relationship with his tools and the metal which allow him to recreate the dance of the bird.
- Creativity requires courage to see what others might not see.
- Creativity requires the willingness to invite and listen to the critical eye of others without allowing one’s ego to get in the way.
- Creativity require the Grace to fail well - to find what does not work.
- Creativity requires the risk of sharing one’s dance of music, words, sculpture, or other forms of expression – the risk of being emotionally, intellectually and spiritually naked.
Daily I must examine whether I am willing to do what it takes to not only exercise my creative mind but to sharpen the tools which allow the written word to awaken a new dance in the mind of the reader. The hidden richness of the rags which someone has tossed into the trash will not be reborn into gold cloth without a lot of tedious, often unexciting work.
As parents, educators, aunts, uncles, mentors and friends we must support the creation of spaces such as Ms. Hogan and others brought together which will invite children to explore all the excitement and discipline which creativity demands and offers.
Written June 20, 2016
RSS Feed