Tag: skill

“Something fun”

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My daughter loves to tell me everyday when we get home that she wants to do “something fun”. I am not in the least surprised that hanging out with me while I am half present in her activity and half doing housework, cooking dinner, and whatever else comes up each day, is not what she considers fun. Yesterday after a fun trip to the zoo, lunch with the elephants and an hour drive to encourage nap time, I found myself wanting to do “something fun” with her. It was Saturday after all and we can’t do housework all the time can we? Suddenly, I remembered that our dogs are happy new owners of two very large dog beds which arrived in two very large boxes!!!

I have been saving some Pinterest ideas on cardboard play houses specifically for a time when a big box and some free time landed on our door step. Here was my chance. Two year old in tow, I asked her ” Do you want to make a play house for you and Bear?” to which she delightfully answered “Yea!” I must confess that when I said “lets make a play house”, she heard “go find toys to play with in a box” and I thought “I get to create with cardboard, scissors and tape!” Luckily, we were both right.

We started by looking at the two boxes and she chose the one she liked the best. As I started to cut into the box she became interested in the process. We drew on the outside where the door and windows were going to go. With each step, she had to test out the inside of the play house, while I consulted Pinterest. We also evaluated what the house needed. First and foremost, a door and some more light. We cut out extra windows everywhere! Second, the house needed some exterior decor. While I wasn’t in the mood to get out the paint, I was more then happy to tear up tape so that the windows and door got some trim. We agreed that the house needed something fresh and added a flower box and some pipe cleaner flowers under the window. Lastly, we grabbed some battery powered string lights from another adventure and strung them through the house for a bit more light.

I can proudly say that my daughter and her bear have now spent a couple of hours in and out of the play house. Bear specifically takes a lot of naps in there!

IMG_2008I enjoyed this activity with my kiddo so much. We created something new from something old. We created a space for her to play with her bear. I spent time with her fully present and excited to use my hands and my years of experience.

While I am still trying to pinpoint the true meaning of the word creativity, I really enjoyed the “doing” yesterday. Heres what I experienced: Creativity for me is active, it helps that I had multiple colors of tape and some pipe cleaners around the house to spruce up our playhouse, but those weren’t required for us to start. I had an idea, I did a little bit of research on Pinterest, and we just started. There were failures, for example,  I didn’t cut the side panels of the roof into perfect triangles. Instead we worked around our challenges until they became essential features of our design;  roof had to be a bit higher, and the holes in the roof were the perfect place to string the lights! Is the house perfect? No way! Will I build another? Oh yea!  Creativity is an iterative process. Yesterday we solved our problem of doing “something fun” with this iteration of play house. Today we will play in and around that playhouse. Maybe we will learn more about cardboard doors that we will keep in mind for next time we break out a box and scissors.

How long with the playhouse stay in the middle of the kitchen? Probably not as long as the dog beds, at least until something else fun comes along!IMG_2019

What is Creativity?

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It’s been a while since I last posted. Recently, I have been pulled by nature to observe its beauty. This is part of my inspiration and part of my inquiry. Observing what is around me and what I am drawn to has started me thinking. Thinking has led to questions of self, such as, how do I define myself, where do I want to direct my focus? Inevitably this leads me back to creativity. So in my free time, I have been doing some research around what is creativity, what are its origins, what makes it so special? 

This has really started me questioning creativity, how I use the word, practice creativity and define or hold myself to a creative standard. Am I actually “creative”or am I consistently using others ideas and just working them to fit my need in a more “creative” way? I have to admit, I haven’t found my answers yet. I am not ready to share my manifesto on creativity. For now I am willing to share my process: here are some of the thoughts/ ideas/ questions about creativity that I am mulling over:

Questions I have about creativity:

  1. What about the idea of creativity  am I so drawn to and why do I want to define myself by this noun?
  2. How do you define that something you did was creative?
  3. Why is creativity most often perceived as related to art?
  4. Isn’t the scientific method is documented process of creativity?
  5. If I make a new recipe based off of similar ones I’ve read is that “creating something new”, if not, then is my new recipe not creative?
  6. If there is a limit to what can be created, why is the idea of being creative so exciting/ new business skill so popular?
  7. How is size or scale of output related to creativity?
  8. If I value creativity so much, what am I creating?

Ideas about creativity that I am grappling with:

  1. Creativity is only when you truly create something that has never ever been created before.
  2. Having access to or buying art/craft supplies enables creativity.
  3. Creativity is a special skill or talent that comes naturally to some and others just can’t do it.
  4. Groups can come up with some of the most creative ideas during activities like brainstorming.
  5. Creativity is messy.
  6. Creativity is best when the outcome is simple.

Ideas about creativity that resonate with me:

  1. Creativity is problem solving with the intent of coming out with a new or different answer.
  2. Creativity is not magic, there are no ah ha moments.
  3. Ideas happen all the time. Creativity comes when you act on that idea.
  4. Creativity is a process filled with the constant cycle of trying, failing, ask more questions, research, try again….
  5. Everybody’s a critic, to be truly creative, you must persist.
  6. Everyone is creative.

The more I read, the less answers I have. What I do know is that I am still drawn to the idea of creativity. I know that there is something special to creativity, and that we all have the potential to be creative. I know that there is intent and action in creativity.  I want to continue this exploration and I plan on sharing it here. Potentially I will answer my own questions or create more. Potentiallly this is my creation space…. More Soon.

Where it started

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Imagine “rumble, crack……. Boom”, summer thunderstorms in Denver are such a gift. From the sounds, to the warm rain while the sun is shining, to the short lived splash pad just outside your door. To some it is a nuisance, to others it ruins their day, to my mom it was an opportunity to create, explore, and play. From the first “Boom”, we were in search of something to use as a boat in the deep gutters on our street. Makeshift craft in hand we ran out into the rain and raced our boats down the gutters. I remember this time so vividly and it is just one of hundreds of examples of a time when my mom asked me to imagine something and to bring it to life with only what we had right here and now. This in my mind is where creativity became a way of life for me. Everything can shine with a bit of creativity.

As an adult, I find myself drawn to jobs that celebrate creativity, Non-profits that use a creative approach to address their mission and people who are not willing to settle for the first answer they find. Creativity is a skill that can be used in every part of your life. I intend to define, discuss, and celebrate creativity. Check back frequently to see what I am up to.