Patience is a virtue

Let me start by admitting the only time you could use the word "patient" to describe me is at the doctor's office.  I'm a stickler for a schedule and I don't care for having to repeat myself, along with a few other quirks that scream: "no patience"!

Serenity Now

One of the things I've always carried in my heart was my Gram's favourite prayer.  Whether it really is called the Serenity Prayer and whether it continues past the word "difference", I don't know, but I found this version online and really related to it.  I have appended this to be totally non-secular, because I believe the message transcends religion:

A rainbow over our home

(This is an appended version; Original text by Reinhold Niebuhr)

I'm not sure I always know the difference, but at least I'm examining it!  There are many things in life we think we can control, but cannot.  My New Year's Resolution this year is to learn the difference.

Until next time:  Inspire...imagine...invent!

Dance...like no one is watching!

Dancing Queens

Lately, I've found that external stressors overwhelming my life are zapping the creative spirit right out of me.   Changes in my husband's work situation were completely beyond our control and had a somewhat catastrophic halo effect.  I find the most creative I can get right now, is to stare at the budget spreadsheet to see where our next meal is coming from. (okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration!)

Sleeping Creatively?

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Last night I had the strangest dream! I can't even remember all the details, really only a vague impression of being on a different world with mythical creatures and I was trying to get back home to go to work but just couldn't find the way!  I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all.

Usually, I find dreaming very rejuvenating.  It's a culmination of the imagination being pushed back by my active brain while I have to live in the real world.

It got me thinking about how sleep and dreaming fit into the whole idea of creativity thought.  Boy, when I'm tired, I can't think of simple things, let alone get creative.  I noticed the same thing in my kids - the poorer quality/length of sleep, the less creatively they can think!

When your child over reacts to small issues (like their cookie breaking) because of a lack of sleep, we automatically say "poor little thing needs a nap".  We're thinking of their ability to be and respond rationally.

But what do we say and do when they can't do or act creatively?  Do we even recognize that as a problem the same way?

'Creative play' - back to basics

I decided to become a blogger because I want to be a voice among the chorus in a grassroots movement to bring back a focus on creative play for kids and the resulting benefit of that creative play:  imagination.

Imagination gets a bit of a bad rap sometimes.  You've probably heard this at least once:  "that's quite an over-active imagination you've got there" - with that one statement, we attempt to coax a tall tale  back to something resembling the truth, innocent enough... but somehow in the search for truth, we forget to recognize the ingenuity of the imagination that created the story!

Over-active imagination?  Once I believed that was possible....I'm not sure there is such a thing anymore. .. but, I'm starting to wonder if there's been an invasion of the body snatchers, actually!

I suppose I focus on "inspiring imagination through creative play every day" because it adds tremendous value to the lives of children, by creating habits and thought patterns that allow us to be creative, critical thinkers for the rest of our lives - and it takes a village.  After all, we are "children" for only 16 years and "grown up" for the next 70, if we're lucky.