Creativity is a Beautiful Thing

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!” – Dr. Seuss

Divergent thinking is not often fostered in structured educational settings.  Our society seems to squelch out most creative expression by the time children reach adulthood.  But we need creative thinkers in our society.  We need people who will look at problems and see solutions.   We need people who will see beauty where others don’t.  We need people who will look at something ordinary and find the extraordinary in it.

As a homeschooler, I need to keep this in mind.  My 5 year old daughter likes to keep reminding me of the beauty of creativity.   This afternoon I saw her playing with her Wonder Pets toys, but they had morphed into other creatures.  My daughter had changed Tuck and Linny into birds and Ming Ming was a worm that had to stay away from the other two.   My little girl had found some old UPS sticky labels and used them to quickly fashion new outfits for the little critters.

While the outfits were quickly fashioned and not focused on details, my daughter saw these little critters differently.  She looked at something ordinary and created something new to do with it.   To me, that is a beautiful thing.  It is beauty that I want to cherish and cultivate.  Who is with me?