"In what ways do you think you nurtured your creativity as a child, wittingly or not? What remains of that life in your and your work? And in what ways do you seek to encourage and nurture creativity in your kids? How does this link with that open mind of play and childhood inform your writing and life today?"
Thanks, Eileen. I love simple questions.
I grew up in a town of 300 people, 200 of whom were related to me. That limits your dating options, if nothing else (or it certainly "should)." The street we lived on was finally paved when I was in junior high school. When I turned fourteen, some kids up the street burned down the school, which in hindsight was the death knell for a town that had literally nothing else going for it. So it wasn't exactly a hotbed of the arts.
As a kid in this town who wore glasses (the big, thick plastic kind that were all the rage in the Seventies), liked to read, saw no particular reason to kill small animals and (lest I slight the importance of this) "liked to read," I never really fit in with the good ol' boy culture around me. But I was always, for lack of a better term, "creative." I loved to draw. I loved listening to music (learning to play was never a real option). And for some inexplicable reason, reading led me to attempt writing.
Was I nurtured in this? Technically yes, I suppose. I wasn't actively discouraged, at least. But there was nothing like the communities you can find online now, so I worked in isolation, encouraged by a couple of teachers and benignly tolerated by my family. I have no idea why I felt so driven to create, and to this day the origin of it confuses me as much as it did my parents. But I did get one thing out of it that's stuck with me to this day: I'm self-motivated. I don't need encouragement, although it's certainly appreciated. But either way, I'll write.
See? Either way. Like I said.
Now that I'm a father, particularly of boys, I'm aware of the danger of both not encouraging them, and over-encouraging. As I said above, I used to love to draw, and can still sketch a mean T-Rex. But I had a relative who, when she saw my interest, took it upon herself to turn me into an "artist." What actually happened was that she killed any fun I'd gotten from art, and made it so that I never wanted to draw again.
This is someone drawing because it's fun.
So I'm very careful not to impose my desires on the boys. My oldest takes martial arts and theatrical acting classes; my youngest likes to build his own elaborate Lego spaceships. When they ask for my help, I try to do it in a way that lets them learn how to help themselves next time.
Mellowin' like Hendrix (see, he's playing left-handed).
I suppose I am still tapped into that childhood well of creativity. Then again, who says creativity is a child-like quality? Our culture thinks of it that way, but I look at it as a job: I punch an unofficial clock every day, and management expects me to be creative. So I have to bring my "A" game, except it's not a game. As John Ford said, it's a job of work.
Hope that answers your question, Eileen. Thanks for asking!
Source: dating-coach-anita.blogspot.com
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