TGSG Note: Sometimes as a writer, a topic or post just resonates with us — for whatever reason. This post is one of those for me. In fact, if I had to pick one thing to share, it would probably be this piece.
Recently, I was discussing Gilbert’s work with a friend — someone who I respect very much. While he had read the book Eat, Pray, Love (well, to be honest, he never finished it), he had never heard her speak. He was not a fan of the book, and while I am, I tried to explain that the book paled in comparison to seeing her speak. Well, at least for me.
Now, I am not really a woo-woo out there person, but I will tell you that I feel this odd kinship with Elizabeth Gilbert, a woman I was slow to hear about. For whatever reason, I didn’t read her book for the longest time. A friend had finally gone out and gotten it for me, but I let it sit on my coffee table for months and months. Not thinking, I casually tossed it in my bag for a work trip I was taking to Italy, where I finally got around to reading it.
So you see — here is the weird thing: my maiden name is Elizabethe Gilbert. I just so happened to have been living in Rome at the same time as Elizabeth Gilbert, where I too was trying to start life over and get my footing, and it was at this time I really started flirting with the idea of becoming a writer.
While I loved the book (although, oddly enough India was my favorite part), it wasn’t until I saw her speak that things really started to click for me. Thoughts set in motion. Permission granted. Calm, and more.
Below you will find the original post, and I have added her TED talk as well. I hope that my friend will give her a few minutes of his time and see if his perspective shifts at all.
I hope that each of you have a person, a song, a poem — whatever — that gets your wheels turning and grants you permission to be OK with wherever you are headed, even if you don’t quite know yet.
Thanks for indulging my personal side today. ~ Bethe
I find myself writing about creativity for the second time this week. After all, it is something that we associate with childhood — make-believe, capturing the world in the colors of a 64 pack of crayons, or the wonderful and winding words of a Shel Silverstein poem. Creativity should be the cornerstone of childhood (and adulthood as well).
I had the opportunity to see Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat Pray Love, speak last night. I was as struck by her engaging storytelling and warm spirit as I was for her quest to understand things — to ask questions and seek truths in a really joyful and thoughtful way. Not in a prescriptive and dogmatic way, or with an agenda of outcomes as her driving force, already answering questions yet to be asked. Her creativity is evident not only in her writing, but in the way her mind works, and the way she allows it to work.
She told a story about seeing the National Cathedral as a young girl, and being so inspired by the beauty and dimensions of its physical space that she wanted to recreate it in her bedroom. Right that very moment — leave DC and head home so she could get started on her own masterpiece — to start decorating her own cathedral.
How much do we love that about children?! Because they don’t just think those delicious thoughts — they act on them. They decorate their own cathedrals. If we let them have room to breathe — have time to just think, play, and make mistakes. If we nurture this discovery process, children find their own voices — their own creativity.
As parents, educators, and/or caring adults, we have to allow this to happen. It’s a conscious decision on our parts through choices that are sometimes unpopular, like limiting screen-time, including “educational” TV or video games. Actions like reducing the number of structured out-of-school activities kids are signed-up for, encouraging outdoor play and the exploration of the natural world, and trips to the library are also important ways to foster creativity.
Creativity must also find its way into our education system, via reform at all levels. Education is about far more than learning the facts — of learning what to think. Good education is learning how to think – how to ask questions and problem solve. How to love to learn. One size does not fit all.
Often, I think that creativity is attached to only the arts — drama, dance, music, and so on. Indeed, those are all creative, but so is math, science, economics, and the like. Creativity is the root of all those things. Of everything. Often, when someone says a person is creative, it can be meant as a slight. “Oh, he’s so creative,” can really mean, “Oh, he’s not too bright, but he’s an amazing dancer.” How sad is that?
Creativity. The power to innovate — all kids have this. We all have this, actually. It’s just the ability to allow ourselves to tap into it or give ourselves the time to embrace it that we seem to have misplaced. It’s time to take it back. It’s time to stop looking at creativity as something that is second, third or tenth on the list of things to value and nurture in our children and in society.
Let the children in your world decorate their own cathedrals. And while you’re at it, decorate your own.
Below you will find Gilbert’s TED speech. While I wish I could share her talk from the National Cathedral that gave me so much insight and calm about where I was at the time and allowing myself to finally become a writer, this one is also amazingly powerful and inspiring.
For a little additional inspiration, why not go see what Mother Nature is up to? She has creativity down in spades.
See you outside! – The Grass Stain Guru
Bethe, this is beautifully written. We were ALL born to create – as adults we allow all the limiting beliefs to get in the way of our natural instinct to create. We teach kids fear, which stifles their curiosity and stops them from being creative adults. I love Elizabeth Gilbert for her clear understanding of creativity, and I love you for posting this thoughtful reflection on something I feel gets lost in today’s more more more world.
You Rock!!
Great post as always Bethe, but I can’t help thinking that the problem lies with the grown-ups. If we spent more time as adults embracing our creative side we would more easily instil creativity in the kids. It’s all too often treated as frivolous and of no use and that needs to change.
The world would be happier if we allowed creativity to flourish.
Oooh, I’ve gone all hippy
Thanks for the great comments, friends! And I agree with you both. (Maybe we have all gone hippy?!) That’s why I really have framed this blog around restoring childhood, and SAVING OURSELVES in the process. Cheers- Bethe
RT @StaciJShelton: AWESOME post on CREATIVITY by @balmeras Create your own Cathedral!! http://is.gd/poIl
I love the analogy of cathedral – you should see the architectural “scenes” our 4 year old has set up all over the house- EVERYTHING is a staged scene with animals grouped with furniture and blankets to create a finished piece…
But along with creativity I think we should also mention the lack of “stimulation” can be a critical ingredient. Or what people today think of as “nothing.”
Our 4 & 6 year old have very little access to tv (general rule is tv only if you have a fever), and no video games. They do not know what Saturday morning cartoons are.
So, for example, today, on a Saturday, they have spent hours constructing an elaborate “set” of tiny dolls, My Little Ponies (all purchased, recycled, from Thrift Stores), our furniture, blankets, plants (sigh, my prized orchid has ponies and unicorns on it…)…
which resulted in one huge scene filled with minute detail of micro-interactions that created a whole.
Would they have the attention span to achieve that amount of detail if they sat their childhood away in front of tv?
Similarly, their afternoons are spent in the backyard with no entertainment except for what they can make or find. Endless days of hunting caterpillars, digging holes… sometimes I watch them, dogs by their side, just slowly pace the yard, looking… And then they come to me with questions, and learn.
As I drove to kindergarten yesterday, the preschooler piped happily as we passed signs of spring: “Forsythia! Grapefruit pears! (That’s what she calls Bradford pears) Cherry trees! Pine tree-Pine tree-Pine tree-Pine tree-Pine tree… Grapefruit pear!”
And I thought about children who can’t identify a tree.
To identify a tree takes observation, study, pondering its differences to then settle on a species’ traits that match what you see.
So creativity, yes!
But I also think that much creativity comes from the stillness of settled quiet, which then allows thoughts to gather, form, then spark something new.
Oops link to @balmeras’s article on Children & Creativity- that 1st one took ya to the comments section: http://tinyurl.com/ckmw4k
Oops link to @balmeras’s article on Children & Creativity- that 1st one took ya to the comments section: http://tinyurl.com/ckmw4k
(Not to go off topic but I also wanted to say… sorry for being so verbose! This is why I should be relegated to Twitter, at least then I have to stick to 140 char…)
P.s. Regarding Charrise’s comment on “teaching kids fear”- our children also know what black widows and copperheads look like, that they always need to be with the pack because of the coyotes, to bring your whistle in the field during hunting season so when you hear a shotgun blast you can let ‘em know you’re there (and to NEVER walk the woods then!)…
How has reality affected them?
Practical and aware of real life issues, yes.
Fearful, they are not.
In fact, only one of them has had a nightmare, once.
Whereas most parenting books have chapters on “when nightmares begin.”
Could it be the incidence of nightmares increased in children with the exposure to tv and video games?
Even when my children see tv now, the Heffalumps in Winnie The Pooh make them turn away- *that’s* scary to them.
Reality? Yes, it’s scary in a different way- but they are secure in their pack, that their pack is there protecting them, and, with their knowledge of real scary things, feel in control to prevent that bad thing from occurring.
Hence freeing them to hunt caterpillars and dig worms with their dogs for hours.
Great post! I, too, got to hear Elizabeth Gilbert last night and loved her creative energy. Parents, educators and other caring adults do need to give children time, space and patience for creativity to blossom and grow.
I’m reminded of Randy Pausch’s plea to parents to allow children to write on bedroom walls. He’d written and drawn his dreams on his own, creating a space that reinforced their importance and power. If you haven’t seen his famous lecture, reserve some time soon to do so.
Computer and Wii games for children can be sources of wonderful and creative fun. That fun can become addicting, much as Twitter or Facebook can be addicting for us grownups. Screentime limits are incredibly important to ensure they get enough unstructured time to explore their creative selves.
We’re still experimenting with the right level of limits. It may be that we find allowing immersive time in all activities the most effective. A deep dive into Spore or Zoo Tycoon is OK if it’s part of a life than includes long walks in the woods, exploring lakes or rivers by kayak and biking to the ice cream parlor instead of driving.
It’s a big challenge to make room for unstructured time. Thanks for your blog – it’s been a great reminder of the rewards that come from that time.
More wisdom and inspiration on creativity and children from the amazing @balmeras – http://twurl.nl/cwhrv6
We are born with the capacity for unlimited creativity and imagination, but sadly are convinced as we “mature” to be more “practical” with our lives, thinking about the more concrete aspects of existence – the material things – instead of dreaming big dreams.
There are those who defy this transition, and they most often become the great thinkers, artists and musicians who we seek for inspiration – yet we could have taken that path all along.
The importance of foster creativity and imagination in our children, from birth to adulthood, cannot be underestimated!
Creativity and kids: http://tinyurl.com/ckmw4k <Rocking it, @balmeras !>
Creativity and kids: http://tinyurl.com/ckmw4k
Once again, I am tickled with all your comments. It really enriches the experience for us all — so thank you so much for lending your voices.
Oh, I love the verbosity of your comments, Copeland!
And couldn’t agree with you more. Completely agree on the silence piece. There is so much noise all the time, especially with the enormous amount of screen time kids (an adults!) are spending. I worry that this generation will not be comfortable with silence or stillness. This fact concerns me.
Jeanne — I love your thoughts on screen time and balance. I think we all have to be diligent in maintaining balance in our lives and modeling that and helping kids find that.
Mark reminds us again that we all have the capacity to dream BIG dreams. Indeed we do!
For me, starting this space for us to talk was a dream. Now, let’s see how much bigger we can make it. Thanks for being a part of this.
Cheers- Bethe
“…let them have room to breathe…”
Yes! Children rely on their grownups to create the space and place for creative play. It takes time to make a plan, to try it out, and to celebrate an innovative idea. Thanks for saying so clearly that it is a choice to nurture our children, and ourselves, as creative beings!
Reminds me of Supertramp.
When I was young it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle, it was beautiful, magical.
Then they sent me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical.
What the education system is failing to take into consideration is that nurturing creativity through our connection with the land naturally teaches about logic, responsibility, practicality, application. Without it ancient humans wouldn’t have survived. And we wouldn’t be here.
We divorce children from the land at such a young age and pay lip service to our connection with nature. Producing a stressed, isolated, frightened population
Start kitchen gardens in schools, get the kids planting, learning, measuring, growing. Sow wild meadow plants and hunt for bugs. Take the food waste from the school kitchen, compost it and use it on the garden. Experiment and plant in moon cycles. Use the food in cooking classes as well as the school canteen (if you have enough!). Conduct chemistry experiments with soil analysis and growing conditions, weather recording and analysing patterns in geography. I could probably go on!
The more people who understand the need for nurturing creativity in all its forms and act on that understanding the better.
And the bonus to the planet? It’ll save on a whole load of CO2 emissions from the waste collections and tonnes more methane from the food waste rotting in landfill.
I’d like to see it anyway, outdoors, getting grass stains and muddy hands. Sounds kinda perfect!
RT @balmeras: In case U missed it over the weekend.- Creativity: Decorating Your Own Cathedral http://bit.ly/18770C
…going outside to play:) Will be gathering images to post in my blog and full my world with beauty and joy…
Susan
Oh, I love this post. I was always a creative, imaginative kid and one of the things my parents and other relatives did for me was give me the space to “play pretend”. I made up stories for my friends and cousins, I transformed my bike into a horse, and a neighbor’s garage into a secret spy base. I loved pretending that things were other than they really were. It felt like the world was a bit larger than I knew it really was.
I did, and do a lot of the so called “creative” things, I sing and play musical instruments (although not often and not well). I write. Still, I think the most creative time in my life was when I was a kid and I was imagining that the trees in the park behind our house were Sherwood Forest and I was a female Robin Hood. I’m grateful I had the time and the space to do that.
I spent part of the weekend analyzing the lyrics of Springsteen’s song “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” with my 11-yr-old. It’s a great summer car song, but as we listened to it more carefully, we decided that it was really about loneliness. Jeesh, Bruce is a poet! This was for a report for her music class. In our educational system, we create a dichotomy between the “useful” and “necessary” subjects (science, math, history, etc.), and the “creative” and “slashable” (at budget crunch time) subjects like art, music, dance, etc. Unfortunately, we approach the subjects differently. My daughter did some real thinking about the song’s lyrics, and that path to insight should be part of every subject.
Great article – not sure if you’ve seen this before, one of my fave TED talks: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Great post from @balmeras on cultivating curiosity and creativity in your kids http://bit.ly/t44It
RT @kindergartentip Gr8 post frm @balmeras on cultivating curiosity and creativity in children http://bit.ly/t44It
@NNUS Eggcellent. Oh yes, I have tweeted & watched her TED talk. Um, a lot!. Did U see my post on her/creativity? http://bit.ly/15LXZT
@balmeras http://bit.ly/15LXZT Love your article!! Reminds me of beloved Howard Gardner & his call for society to nurture all intelligences
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by daisywilder: Creativity Revisited: Decorating Your Own Cathedral | The Grass …: Notes on fostering creativity in childhood and… http://bit.ly/6hre5o...
What a special post — thanks for sharing something so personal! I am on a journey of discovery of my own at the moment & this couldn’t be more timely. One of the things I’m learning is that we all deserve the time & space we need to be creative, in fact, to just be. Nature provides me with that & I try to foster that same space for my kids. It’s not easy in today’s world of distractions, but we owe it to each other and to our kids. Thanks again, Bethe!
Debi´s last blog ..I’m Thankful for … My Lessons from Nature
Beautifully written Bethe.
Children are born with a sense of curiosity, joy and wonder about the natural world-climbing trees, picking berries, splashing in puddles, planting seeds, listening to bird song and chasing butterflies but they are spending less time outdoors than ever before.
I am passionate about getting kids creative and reconnected to nature. There has never been a more important time to instill a love of nature and nurture creativity.
Nature should be an integral part of every day life. It is the natural world that keeps us grounded-pardon the pun!
My blog post: http://www.marghanita.com/bird-watching-connecting-kids-to-nature/
“If we let them have room to breathe — have time to just think, play, and make mistakes. If we nurture this discovery process, children find their own voices — their own creativity.”
Bethe, I couldn’t agree more. Homeschoolers talk about deschooling – it’s a process of self-discovery and adjustment that many parents see kids go through when they are withdrawn from school to homeschool, when they are given more time to find their creativity. At the end of deschooling parents say they get back the delightful person they remember from the preschool years. Most often schools aren’t kind to creativity. Parents could do with improving what they expose their kids to also – it works both ways – I’ve seen parents complain that a school which took a different approach didn’t do enough assessing.
Isn’t it a little strange when you connect with someone with the same name? Thanks for sharing this. I’m glad you found your creativity!
Alison Kerr´s last blog ..The Grackles’ Loss is My Gain
Lovely, lovely post from @balmeras on #creativity : http://bit.ly/4HyxOX Must read for #ece #parents #play
Thanks for all the kind words, all! Ole ole ole to each of you. I am so thankful to have that video to inspire me on days when I get bogged down.
Rt @VickiEhlers Lovely, lovely post from @balmeras on #creativity : http://bit.ly/4HyxOX Must read for #ece #parents #play <truly, lovely>
Creativity Revisited: Decorating Your Own Cathedral | The Grass … http://bit.ly/6hre5o
Fabulous inspiration from @balmeras Creativity Revisited: Decorating Your Own Cathedral | The Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/55aa5w #parent
Allowing kids (and ourselves) to find our creativity http://bit.ly/8d41o7 today @ The Grass Satin Guru
RT @littlehumbugs ! RT @balmeras: NEW post @ The Grass Stain Guru http://bit.ly/8d41o7 Creativity Revisited. #play #parent #playoutdoors
BIG thanks to those who left kind comments & shared your support in tweets for my very personal post today: http://bit.ly/8d41o7 ole ole 2U
For the night shift: Creativity & helping foster that in kids…and yourself http://bit.ly/4HyxOX
RT: @balmeras For the night shift: Creativity & helping foster that in kids…and yourself http://bit.ly/4HyxOX
Creativity & helping foster that in kids…and yourself http://bit.ly/4HyxOX