Creativity

I come from a very creative family.  So do we all, what did your family create? My grandmother wove her own mats, linen towels and table cloths.  She crocheted table cloths and curtains.  She embroidered the white linen towels she had woven with her initials in red and taught her daughter, my mother, to do the same.  She baked bread and cakes, made meatballs and preserves.  All this creativity is extremely impressive to me, I can't do any of it.  Well, maybe I can bake a cake! I know I can make pancakes!

My female cousins are more skilled and creative than me when it comes to sewing, knitting and embroidery.  The male relatives are equally creative in different ways including ceramics and woodworking.  There was a time when everyone had their practical skill and used it all the time, even made their living from it.  My Grandfather was a chef, his creative medium was food.

Today this creativity that we all have has mostly evolved into other forms, the creative energy has perhaps moved from the fingers and hands up to the brain where it enables us to think and communicate within the organizations where we work.  Creativity has found new expression in computers and many of the students I teach are more comfortable with using computers than with using their hands.  That's alright, but we still need to be able to think, feel and sense.

I feel concerned for the future when my students want their computers to tell them the answers to every question in English.  When they can't or won't allow themselves to feel their way though the problem and connect the dots within their heads but want to instantly consult Google Translate.

The great thing about art is you can't do that with most art projects.  You can't get a computer to do it for you, or at least, I won't let them do that!  I'm such a spoil sport, I want to see them get their hands dirty and feel the paint moving around on the paper.  When they write I want them to use their brains, see what comes out of their own experience.  It's so important for children and adults to have a creative outlet, otherwise the creativity that's within us all turns to destruction and mayhem.