I like the idea that creativity comes from having rules and then breaking the rules. You have a sandbox to play in, and then when you get bored, then you can make something else outside the confined space.

Mind you, I was the kid who didn’t colour inside the lines in colouring books. Go figure. 

Creativity is also the willingness to do something silly and playing with it to see where it goes. 

Making a story in a drawing

In my perspective drawing class, we had to make one point perspective rooms and two point perspective boxes in it. I had an idea of a rug on the floor, but then it morphed into a box. Then, inspired by my takeout Maker pizza the previous night, it turned into a pizza box. 

The pizza box then made me wonder, what character would have a pizza box on the floor in a room? 

While teenage boy came up first, I somehow landed on a mouse, which led to a whole flurry of new connections. A box in the back became a hunk of cheese with holes and a chunk bitten out of it.

Delighting others and where this went

I enjoyed delighting my classmates with the image of a silly mouse room when we shared all our in-class drawings on the floor for teacher set critiques. 

In the following week, for the bird house assignment, someone made a house with eyes and bird legs. I guess it was a re-interpretation of “bird-house”.

Keeping the child alive

This child sense of wonder, excitement and delight is important to me. It feeds the soul in a way that nothing else really does. Why not take that extra step to excite and surprise someone? The delight in someone else’s face with a compliment, a kind word, compassion, or little token of appreciation?

It’s the small moments that we live for.