Did you think of yourself as a creative kid? What does creativity look like for you these days? Because our histories inform everything we do, it’s worth starting by sharing that I grew up in a large, multigenerational immigrant household where survival was possible by focusing on needs not wants.
Love this post. I became more creative when my kids were small because I was a stay-at-home mom and simply had more time to be creative. I would set my kids up at the kitchen table with paints and different craft projects and we'd have fun together. I used to tell them "there's no wrong answers in art - it isn't math." I wanted them to have the freedom to have fun and not worry that it was "good enough". I didn't have time to focus on my writing career until I was an empty nester. I needed more quiet than I could get when my kids were home. Do I wish I had started earlier? No, I try not to look back and second guess. That would kill creativity for me.
Thank you Susan! I love the phrase “there’s no wrong answers in art!” And I love how you have yourself permission to evolve and go through different phases.
This is amazing. Sometimes I look at kids and they’re the freest most creative beings-and then as the world closes in they close a bit off. And then we have to learn it all over again as adults.
Love this post. I became more creative when my kids were small because I was a stay-at-home mom and simply had more time to be creative. I would set my kids up at the kitchen table with paints and different craft projects and we'd have fun together. I used to tell them "there's no wrong answers in art - it isn't math." I wanted them to have the freedom to have fun and not worry that it was "good enough". I didn't have time to focus on my writing career until I was an empty nester. I needed more quiet than I could get when my kids were home. Do I wish I had started earlier? No, I try not to look back and second guess. That would kill creativity for me.
Thank you Susan! I love the phrase “there’s no wrong answers in art!” And I love how you have yourself permission to evolve and go through different phases.
This is amazing. Sometimes I look at kids and they’re the freest most creative beings-and then as the world closes in they close a bit off. And then we have to learn it all over again as adults.
For sure! I feel like my son is partly here to remind me it’s ok to break some rules creatively and otherwise!
Thank you so much for the excellent questions and space to answer, Heidi!