It finally snowed enough to play in on Friday. The problem was, I had to take a class on Saturday. Ha. Lucky for me, I was e-commuting on Friday. I’m not sure if the super meant for me to go walking in the woods while it snowed with my girls and then take them sledding, but we needed a day spent entirely outside. Besides that, a few folks feel a little beat down lately with all the budget cuts and money coming out of our paychecks, so I needed time to just be in the moment.
The roads were icy as I headed off to class. I must admit, I kept hoping it was going to be canceled. I got a one hour delay. When I arrived, a few things struck me at once. The class had music playing much like my yoga class, the chairs were in a circle, and I noticed what I thought were brightly colored mandalas on the wall. Cool. The class opened by everyone getting to say their name and why they were taking the class. Almost everyone was an educator of some sort. You could feel the reluctance of some to say anything at all. The class was diverse in backgrounds, race, and ages. It was quite a unique mix. When we got around to a rather big man, and I mean big as in presence, he said he had spent 3 tours in Iraq and was now teaching at one of our ummm corrective schools. Wow. This tiny older woman got up and hugged him when it was her turn to introduce herself. I almost cried.
Then we watched a thought-provoking video called Everyday Creativity with Dewitt Jones. He is an amazing photographer. This will not do it justice, but I actually found the key points here in a Power Point. The first point he made blew me away…not just because it was right, but it was because I have been saying this for years. I actually made a post about this some time ago called The Long Lens. I talked about looking at things from a million different perspectives. Since this man can go through 400 rolls of film to get 35 extraordinary photos, I think he said it better than I could. He said “The lens we chose when we view a problem is critical. Our perspective is what holds the key to whether the solution is ordinary or extraordinary.” Wow. I know many artists who have such perspective everyday.
The question is, can you be creative without being an artist? Of course you can. You have to learn to think differently, and of key importance is that you realize you are going to make mistakes. He stressed that there is always more than one right answer. So true. A few other things I was told that day are:
- Every act can be a creative one.
- Creativity is a matter of perspective.
- Break the pattern.
- You’ve got to really care.
Amazing things are out there for all of us, we just have to find the place of most potential. Embrace change…re-frame.
“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.” ~Rita Mae Brown