There was a time when we were genius creators, when ideas bubbled up within us, when we sang and danced, when we solved problems and explored the world, when we drew and painted and made up our own games — often all in the same day, and often all in the name of play and having fun. When we were children, our imaginations were rich, powerful, and ever-active. Ideas pinged around our brains like pinballs, and we lit up with creativity, invention, and wonder as we built worlds and told stories and believed in magic.
What happened?
Where did those daring children go who looked at the world with wide eyes — who sang silly, made-up songs — who laughed with excitement and created adventures? What happened to those individuals who overflowed with creative confidence and insatiable curiosity?
The answer is simple. That creative enthusiasm got reined in as we were forced into boxes, and the light of wonder dimmed when conformity became more important than individuality — when curiosity was replaced with certainty — when risk was ousted by comfort and fitting in. We lost so much of ourselves as we shrank to fit expectations and shut ourselves off from the wide-eyed parts of ourselves. We walled up our imaginative exuberance and stifled our impulses and closed ourselves to that ever flowing spring of creativity.
How do we rediscover that creative light — that ever flowing source of energy? How do we, once again, tap into that wonder, that sense of curiosity, that thrill of adventure?
We may not be able to run around and play and laugh and tumble and dance like so long ago, but we can reconnect with our creative selves, recover that sense of possibility, and rediscover that pure, creative energy. We can look around the world full of wonder and embrace the uncertainty and imagine a new world that only we can build.