Confidently Creative

I had the opportunity to read the book Creative Confidence (these are just chapter summaries that do not do the book justice) and it was such an easy and good read! We were given a quiz about this book and the last question was the following: Discuss one suggestion from the book you can see making a positive difference in your life from this point forward.

One thing in particular struck a cord with me. A story told by one of the writers and an encounter he had with a classmate during his 3rd grade art class. His class was in art class and the assignment was to create a sculpture with clay.

A student approach one of the writer's friends' who was sculpting with the clay and said that his figure did not look good to her liking. The friend proceeded to walk towards the bin to discard his clay, with the assumption that he never picked up clay again. All from one little girl's comment.

This story made me think how often I do not pursue something because someone else told me I wasn't good enough for it. How different would my life be if I pursued something else? Although this isn't something I dwell on, it give perspective of the situations and opportunities I have had. 

Another story from this book that resinated with me was about the authors acts of creativity being expressed and how having supportive parents fostered them into the positions they hold today. It made me realize how influential our parents can be, even throughout adolescents and adulthood. These two authors were constantly building and creating things- leading to things being broken, messes, and failures.

While reading this all I could think of is how my mom would have reacted. She would have yelled for the messes and probably tell me to never attempt this again. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and family. However, my family was not as supportive as other families in my middle school and high school activities. I was the kid who always got a ride to games from the soccer coach and was last to be picked up from events my family did not attend.

I don't regret the experiences I had, although I know that the activities I enjoyed would have different outcomes if my family were more supportive. But it's taught me to preserve, work hard for my personal goals I wish to achieve, to never give up, and to stand up, even if it means standing alone.