Creativity

One of the things that I most appreciate at my school is the way that the students are encouraged to be creative. From pre-K all the way until the 12th grade, the students have the opportunity to take art, music, and other classes that indulge the creative sides of their brain. My 7 year old often relaxes at the end of the day by making pictures. I love that he does that so easily. Sometimes I'm a little envious.

I don't think of myself as particularly creative, though in the last few years I have worked harder to add some creativity in my world. It's been a gradual process, and I've used a lot of different outlets (making cards, writing, arranging things in my home, gardening, cooking, taking pictures). So joining the folks over at Thing-a-Day feels exciting and a bit risky, but like a natural evolution in the process.

The goal is to spend at least 30 minutes a day being creative and then posting the results of the day's product over at thing-a-day; my creative product will also be post on my blog. I will indulge in some newly creative activities, as well as some familiar forms of creativity. As has been my habit, I will broadly define creativity.

Today's posting is today's creative act: actually thinking about creativity in my life, and organizing a plan for the projects that I will complete this month. Spontaneity is not my strong suit and, in fact, sometimes makes me uncomfortable, so my creativity this month will largely be planned. I hope to find some spontaneity as I create, but we'll just have to see what happens. Mostly, I want to take some time this month to be mindful about creativity.