Ceaselessly Creative

Play is about reconnecting to the child like wonder and awe. Play is about letting go of judgements and letting mistakes become challenges or inspiration. Jill Bernard reminds us, “Know that You are right. Know that You are good. Know that You knew how to do this when You were 6 years old, other stuff just got in the way. Play.”

Hands on Challenge: Wearable Object Pipe Cleaner Sculpture

Digital Challenge: Macaroni Draw

Everything is a remix. Nothing is created from nothing. The “lone genius” is a Hollywood notion that exists only in stories. “We stand on the shoulders of giants.”

There is no set of instructions, a how to or step-by-step guide for creativity. We each bring our thoughts, experiences and feelings to creativity. There will be struggle. The journey is the reward. John Cleese so simply says, “When You’re being creative, nothing is wrong.” We remember the lessons from our first two classes to get us through the messiness of figuring our creativity out.

Much of life and creativity is unplanned and unexpected. We lean on our previous classes lessons to help us through these “surprise” experiences. Learning to roll with it and find our flexibility is key as, “Change is the only constant.”

Again, we lean on lessons from our previous classes to take the risk and be bold to generate and generate and generate an abundance and plethora of ideas. We see what sticks and what connections stand out to us. Convergent thinking is important to creativity - especially the initial stages. Sara Blakely gives us the confidence to boldly go where we have not gone before, “Don’t be intimidated by what You don’t know. That can be Your greatest strength and ensure that You do things differently from everyone else.”

This class lesson is about addressing the part of the creative process that is uncomfortable. We strive to push ourselves, our comfort zone and accept the challenges that come with this part of the journey. Creativity begins with our thinking process and how we can combine bits of this and that in new to us ways. When we can push ourselves and grow our comfort zone we move beyond, leveling up our creativity such that Suzy Kassen reminds us, “Being different and thinking different makes a person unforgettable.”

Our thoughts, experiences and feelings or emotions can hinder or inspire our creativity. This class shines a light on how our emotions can be an inspiration. We spend time with them to grow that relationship, nurturing it to become part of our positive progression of creativity. The one and only Maya Angelou left us with this wisdom, “I’ve learned that people will forget what You said. People will forget what You did but people will never forget how You made them feel.”

Saving the most important for last? Does this course finish with a bang? Albert Einstein states, “The important thing is not to stop questioning.” Can’t stop - Won’t stop. All the questions. All the time. Everywhere. Curiosity killed the cat and it conspired to inspire our creativity. We come full circle as curiosity and asking questions is an important aspect of play.

This is an extra added on class beyond the promised 8. Mix up all our previous classes together and let’s jump on the imagination train. Put all Your creativity skills together to start dreaming and scheming :) We have spent 8 classes on You and not it is time to begin thinking about the world and people around us.