Offer Fear a Place to Sit…and Let Creativity Come Out and Play!
“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.” ~ Charles Brower During a recent playshop, we decided to offer Fear a place to sit. Fear’s presence needed to be acknowledged. It didn’t serve anyone to pretend it was not in the room. Fear, after all, is one of the great impediments to being playful and creative. We fear being judged, doing it “wrong”, looking too silly, failure etc. Fear doubts the innate artist within, demands perfection, and devises unnecessary plans to ensure we avoid unexpected pitfalls and looking “stupid”. It works us hard! Today’s kids have become so fearful of […]
The Moonlit Forest Path of Inquiry ~ 8 Questions to Nurture the Heart and Creativity of Children
“Who am I?” “What is the purpose of life?” “What brings me joy?” “What are my gifts?” “What really matters?” “What do I know for certain?” “What is it to belong?” “What is it to love?” To nurture the Heart and Creativity of children, we must travel down the moonlit forest path of inquiry asking ourselves the eight questions listed above. These are not questions many of us were encouraged to explore, and so the path may seem dark, strange and unfamiliar. And yet, what are the consequences of a society that only travels 100 feet, a few yards, or stops at the trailhead? How might our reticence impact how we perceive ourselves, life, how we treat children, what we deem as being important? And what […]
The Only Thing You Can Carry With You, And You Can Never Leave Behind
~ By Vince Gowmon It is not about what you have, don’t have, or the situations you find yourself in. It is not about your goals ambitions setbacks or milestones. These are all the little agendas in life that are transient and temporal. They are the gateways into the larger agenda- the agenda that really matters. This larger agenda lives in the present moment, and it holds the one thing, the only thing, that you can carry forward with you into 2015 and beyond; and the one thing that can never, ever be left behind. And that is your learning– the wisdom gained from your trials and triumphs, from your have’s and have-not’s. At the end of the day it is how you grow– who […]