Fibermania

My Sister is a Genius

Brooke Larm...she wrote this:

Today before we get started, I want to talk all of you about being creative. For many people, this is a mystical process, foreign and strange. But, really, it is our native land. Being creative is the language we were all born with, it is part of the body we move around in every day. We are all given this ability, to be creative, at birth. Many of us, however, allow this little voice into our heads that tells us our ideas are stupid, we're stupid, we'll never be good at anything, and whatever art we're trying to create will never be anything more than crap.

This little voice also talks to us about many other things in different areas of our lives, always trying to get us to fail. Sometimes we listen to it, sometimes we don't. It is especially hard not to listen to it when creating art, but I want to make you aware of that little voice so that you can tell it to shut up. It is not your conscience. It is not up to do good in your life at all. And this dastardly little voice has the ability to derail the creative process if you let it, so start ignoring it now.

Why do I say we are all creative? Can everybody draw a photo quality picture? No. Not even every artist can do that. ( I can't, for instance) But being creative is not about being perfect. It's about expressing yourself. We all need to express ourselves, and we all do, everyday, in the clothes we wear, in the hairstyles we chose, in the way we talk, the words we use, the things we leave unsaid. All of these expressions of self require a million little decisions on a daily basis. Making these decisions is a part of the brain that we are accostumed to using, but making creative decisions about our art is a weak area of the brain. We need to exercise that decision making area of our brain to make it stronger, to make us feel more confident, to allow ourselves to say, "Hey - I AM creative!"

In my classes, in order to silence the little voice, there will be no negative talk about one's own artwork, or about anyone else's artwork. We will only talk about what we like and what we want to improve about a piece of artwork. I want to create an atmosphere where everyone feels safe and there is no failure, no little annoying voice that has it all wrong anyway. That little voice doesn't want to see you reach your goals and become a whole person, it wants to see you crippled and afraid to try. But it's only a tiny little voice. Don't listen to it. Trust the creative process. Sometimes it will lead you to a dead end, but never without learning something you will use in another project, or even in another area of your life! Remember that using those decision making muscles will feel weird at first because you're not used to it, and you may even feel sore after using them, but keep using them. You will get stronger!