Recently I started attending a pottery class at my local community college. I’m sure I’ll be blogging more about this once I have some finished products to show you, but today my mind is focused on creativity in general.
Some people are more creative than others, of course, but if you have even the tiniest creative bone in your body, it’s very important that you let it out to play now and then. I know this because I’ve been seriously neglecting mine of late, and this pottery class is sort of setting that part of me free. I feel as though I can breathe again. I feel whole and healthy.
Unfortunately, with our ever-shrinking educational budgets, the arts are taking a heavy hit in our schools today. At least here in America, this is teaching us that art is a luxury, not a necessity. It’s something that you go to look at in a museum if you have nothing better to do. I would argue that this could not be further from the truth. Art is what connects us all. Art is the symbolic representation of our like minds. Even Paleolithic Man knew this. At a time when mere survival was surely paramount, these people were drawing on the walls of Chauvet Cave in modern day France. That says a lot.
There is something inside human beings, something basic, that impels us to create, to produce something unique, to put our stamp upon the world. Whether it be through writing or building or painting or cooking or any other thing that makes you who you are, that’s your creativity. That’s what sets you apart. We all need this affirmation that we count, we stand out, we matter.
Even if you just doodle on a notepad while talking on the phone, create something new today. Add to the beauty and distinction of the world. Let those creative juices flow!
This is one of my favorites of the many masterpieces in Chauvet Cave.
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