Some people believe that there are zero bounds to human creativity. That the human brain is capable of infinite and wondrous things, if only we allow ourselves to believe. To free ourselves. To GO for it, man! Just look around at books like best seller “The Secret”. The self-help shelves these days are filled with tomes proposing that we can all create unlimited health, wealth, happiness – anything we want – with nothing more than our positive thoughts. Really? Anything? What a bunch of hooey.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for using your brain power for good. I fully believe that we CAN manifest a great many incredible things by manipulating the way we think and how we act. I do it all the time. Seriously. But to suggest that this sort of thing is limitless is completely ridiculous. I mean, there is absolute no way for me to become the first black American president. Period.
Just look at the Millennial generation who grew up being told they could be anything they wanted…that everybody wins…that everyone should be accepted and included no matter what. How’s that going for us? Entitled much? Grow up, Peter Pan. Great things take work. Lots of honest and hard work. (10,000 hours perhaps.) There’s no secret in that.
As I mentioned yesterday, there are several limitations to being a creative stay-at-home-mom. Time… energy… endless duties and responsibilities… even things as mundane as the weather can affect how you create. But this is exactly how it should be! Just like children need boundaries and rules to learn how to confidently navigate their way through the world, the creative person needs certain limitations as well. If only to be forced to figure out how to rise above them – to think “outside of the box”. And then to GO there. That, my friends, is the mark of a true genius.
With that in mind, I must rise above my current situation. I may not be able to spend more than “nap time” on any given day devoted to my creations. I may not be able to stray beyond the sound of the baby monitor most of the time. And I may not be able to take advantage of inspiration the exact moment that it strikes (if I’m lucky enough to enjoy it’s presence at all). But I’m not going to let that stop me. Because where would I be if I didn’t even try?
And thus, while heading to pick up my son from school, I decide to take the alley route instead of the usual sidewalk. And I am lucky enough to find somebody’s old furniture abandoned for trash.
Perhaps the dandelion is rising above it’s current situation too.
I certainly have a long way to go before hitting genius, there’s no doubt. But at least it’s a start. Even if it is just in my own back yard.
