Creativity

I never considered myself to be really creative. My friends in school always seemed to be way more creative than me growing up. They could take awesome pictures in this weird light and of course it came out awesome. Or they would think of the best idea in art class and the rest of the class would copy off their bright idea. Or better yet, they would have their artwork featured in the school art show. "I want my artwork in an art show," I would say in my head. I was always super jealous of those people but I was (still am) more concrete and literal. 

Then I came to college.

I was thrown into the group that everyone assumed was creative because of my major: early elementary education. "Oh you want to teach little kids - you have to be so creative!" No one had ever really assumed that about me before, so I grabbed it and ran with it. I started really tapping into that other side of my brain that I really had never used too much before. It seemed like I was going to never get it because I was too literal and concrete, and all the real creative people would find out I was a fake and yell at me to get out or something awful.

I was scared... and really scared to fail and copy.

amen.

Then I took a class: Integrating the Creative Arts into the Classroom. I was going to be learning how to take drama, music, and art and implement them into the classroom effectively. [What not to do: randomly place a skit, song or art project into a lesson. What to do: place a skit, song or art project into a lesson with a purpose to teach the students about drama, music or art along with the subject it is being taught in. (see I remember).] While this class taught me so much about practical application of integrating the creative arts into the classroom, it also taught me so much more about myself and creativity. Eighty-five percent of the class was focused on us performing plays, making music, and creating artwork. It was just plain amazing. relaxing. enjoyable. unique. and eye-opening.

I began to really tap into my brain and figure out what creativity meant to me - the literal and concrete teacher with a passion for something I had never really tried. I began to see that it was okay to fail - some of the coolest things I made in class weren't suppose to end up the way they did but they were the bomb.com! People in class were actually starting to come up to me and say that they loved my artwork! Say whatttt?! I couldn't believe that these people thought my stuff was good or even worth mentioning. And then we had an ART SHOW! People from all over the school came up to me and said they loved my stuff! I pretty much blushed and died inside while squeaking out a big thank you!

So it got me thinking - why did I suddenly have the capability to produce "good" artwork now and not before? Well - I always have been producing good artwork I just haven't been looking at it correctly. I let my fear get in the way of me being creative. I started to see the gifts that God has given me - which are different than everyone else's gifts. I am a creative person because I am made in the image of a creative God. I am able to see vintage items and figure out how to change them or leave them to be something new and exciting. I am able to fix things up easily and quickly into new things people die to have. I am able to take something that most people would find useless and give a use to. I am creative. I have a creative God who made me to be creative in different ways. I am definitely embracing the creative aspect of my life now - which you have seen in some other posts [click]. 

I started to realize that the quote above: "creativity is maximized when you're living in the moment" is so incredibly true. I am a planner. I organize and I plan. I have been broken by God in those areas many times, but I learned that when I am living in the moment I am forced to rely on God more and am able to be more creative in my everyday life. I love college because it has opened up a door that I never thought was there. Now I AM going to be that creative elementary teacher that does the awesome individualized arts and crafts with my students because I have been able to embrace my creativity. God has been able to show me so much about myself and Himself through this awesome learning experience. And this blog has been such an awesome outlet for some of my creativity as well!

all pictures are from pintrest