Posts Tagged ‘creativity’

Nurturing Creativity in Children

July 28th, 2010

Todays post is from my friend, Kara. I met Kara a few years ago in Prague and knew right away that we needed to be friends – She’s a photographer, a foodie who’s interested in health and nutrition, a world traveler, and she practices yoga. Kara has spent the last year living in the states and is currently working on moving back to Prague. I will be looking forward to seeing her there soon!

Happy child with painted hands

(Photo from Foundationphasewales.com)
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” ~ Pablo Picasso
Children have an endless supply of creative energy. I see it when my nieces originate their own songs and dance moves; when my friend’s son takes a stack of white paper and a pencil and writes his own adventure stories. Children can make something out of nothing. Because they don’t care what people think they can authentically explore their uniqueness. I wish I had the imagination I did when I was 5!
As we grow up it seems that in our (American) culture, imagination and creativity are seen as childish and therefore we need to “grow up” and “live in reality”. Personally, I am passionate about art and allowing imagination and creativity to grow and I have my own mother to thank for that.
I grew up with an incredibly artistic and talented mother. She was born and raised in New York City and spent much of her childhood attending ballets, Broadway, piano and guitar lessons and spent her evenings writing poetry. Naturally, from the time I was very young she instilled a deep desire to explore my creative side and not feel pressured to think only “inside the box”.
If you want to encourage your child’s creativity start here:
Remember that creativity is not just a project or after school distraction. Encourage your kids to see the value in art. Take them to a museum, a gallery, a cooking demonstration. Allow them to witness others living out their unique talents. Ask the right questions. Find what kind of art your children like and take the time to explore that with them.
As an artist, I can say that I need my space in order to create. As much as you want to encourage your child, don’t hover or feel the need to monitor at all times. Allow them a safe environment to explore. Honestly, they don’t need us to tell them how to draw, build or design something. If anything, we can learn so much more by watching them! Also, refrain from giving judgment or too much critique. Remember that art is as unique as people are, and despite how you may want to react, your child needs to feel that what they offer to the art world holds value. Love them for their willingness to try, not the end result.
Offer guidance in whatever ways you can. If you enjoy cooking, bring your child into the kitchen with you and offer them the opportunity to participate. If you play an instrument, share your love of music. Whatever it may be, don’t hold back. Art is meant to be shared.
Lastly, it’s important that originality is cultivated. The greatest innovators have always been those who thought differently from the rest. Just think how different our world would be if people like The Wright Brothers, Pablo Picasso or even J.K. Rowling were not encouraged to be themselves, original and full of imagination.
To see a few young artists’ creativity, check out the International Child Art Foundation’s gallery.
Here’s a fun family art project that everyone can participate in!
Using an old toy chest, a cardboard box, etc you and spend time with your family making a family keepsake box; something to hold your mementos for years to come.  I love using recycled materials and craft supplies including glue, stencils, markers, paint, newspaper or used colored tissue paper  and gift wrap.
Get creative and cut out a variety of shapes and use lots of color! Let each family member design and contribute something that expresses who they are. The best part is deciding what to include in the keepsake box. My family has placed old movie ticket stubs, vacation photos, souvenirs, foreign money, music CDs that we all like, anything that reminds of quality time together. Ours even has a jar of sand and a small sombrero from a trip to Mexico. Take pictures of your family during this project and use those as the first memento to go in the box!

(Photo from Foundationphasewales.com)

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” ~ Pablo Picasso

Children have an endless supply of creative energy. I see it when my nieces originate their own songs and dance moves; when my friend’s son takes a stack of white paper and a pencil and writes his own adventure stories. Children can make something out of nothing. Because they don’t care what people think they can authentically explore their uniqueness. I wish I had the imagination I did when I was 5!

As we grow up it seems that in our (American) culture, imagination and creativity are seen as childish and therefore we need to “grow up” and “live in reality”. Personally, I am passionate about art and allowing imagination and creativity to grow and I have my own mother to thank for that.

I grew up with an incredibly artistic and talented mother. She was born and raised in New York City and spent much of her childhood attending ballets, Broadway, piano and guitar lessons and spent her evenings writing poetry. Naturally, from the time I was very young she instilled a deep desire to explore my creative side and not feel pressured to think only “inside the box”.

If you want to encourage your child’s creativity start here:

  • Remember that creativity is not just a project or after school distraction. Encourage your kids to see the value in art. Take them to a museum, a gallery, a cooking demonstration. Allow them to witness others living out their unique talents. Ask the right questions. Find what kind of art your children like and take the time to explore that with them.
  • As an artist, I can say that I need my space in order to create. As much as you want to encourage your child, don’t hover or feel the need to monitor at all times. Allow them a safe environment to explore. Honestly, they don’t need us to tell them how to draw, build or design something. If anything, we can learn so much more by watching them! Also, refrain from giving judgment or too much critique. Remember that art is as unique as people are, and despite how you may want to react, your child needs to feel that what they offer to the art world holds value. Love them for their willingness to try, not the end result.
  • Offer guidance in whatever ways you can. If you enjoy cooking, bring your child into the kitchen with you and offer them the opportunity to participate. If you play an instrument, share your love of music. Whatever it may be, don’t hold back. Art is meant to be shared.
  • Lastly, it’s important that originality is cultivated. The greatest innovators have always been those who thought differently from the rest. Just think how different our world would be if people like The Wright Brothers, Pablo Picasso or even J.K. Rowling were not encouraged to be themselves, original and full of imagination.

To see a few young artists’ creativity, check out the International Child Art Foundation’s gallery.

Here’s a fun family art project that everyone can participate in!

Using an old toy chest, a cardboard box, etc you and spend time with your family making a family keepsake box; something to hold your mementos for years to come.  I love using recycled materials and craft supplies including glue, stencils, markers, paint, newspaper or used colored tissue paper  and gift wrap.

Get creative and cut out a variety of shapes and use lots of color! Let each family member design and contribute something that expresses who they are. The best part is deciding what to include in the keepsake box. My family has placed old movie ticket stubs, vacation photos, souvenirs, foreign money, music CDs that we all like, anything that reminds of quality time together. Ours even has a jar of sand and a small sombrero from a trip to Mexico. Take pictures of your family during this project and use those as the first memento to go in the box!

Copy of P1060925webKara is a believer in living life creatively and holistically. Her passion for art has led her on many adventures through the years and she now enjoys sharing her creative gifts with aspiring young artists. Kara’s interest in a holistic lifestyle was fueled after years of being frustrated with traditional, Western medicine which caused her to step into the world ofalternative medicine. Shortly after making a few basic changes to her lifestyle, she saw results and now feels empowered to share with others the benefits of preventative, natural medicine. Her personal goal is to live as physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy and thriving as possible, 100% of the time and encourage others to do the same. You can follow her thoughts and travels at her blog: karabess.wordpress.com

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Admiration Monday: Vina of A Nourishing Home

June 21st, 2010

Today I want to tell you about a woman who has constantly encouraged me over the past few months since I found her blog. So often when I read something Vina has written my heart and soul just sigh a deep, “YES!” I feel like I can relate to her on so many levels. Today I was reading the About page on her blog and all I could think as I read was, “I want to be her friend.”

Do you ever meet someone and just feel right away that they are a long lost “bosom friend” as Anne would say, an “anamchara” (soul friend) as the Celtic saints of old would call it. I’ve never really met Vina, but that’s how I feel when I read her blog. We could be friends; I wish we were friends, and not just blogger friends. She’s one of a very small handful of bloggers who I would love to actually meet – sit across the table from and learn from in person. Although, honestly, I probably would feel way to intimidated to really meet her in person.

Vina inspires me. She is thoughtful, intentional, and intuitive. Her posts are beautiful, insightful, and intelligent. She writes with clarity and purpose. She is relatable and doesn’t hide her own insecurities, or struggles. She describes herself as a “domestically-challenged-freak-of-nature” who sometimes forgets to brush her teeth and “doesn’t really notice the dust that accumulates on top of [the] furniture.” Oh, how I can relate!

I can also deeply relate to how she describes her beliefs. I’ll let her say it because she says it so well:

I am a follower of Jesus, but I don’t readily identify with mainstream American Christianity, nor am I a huge fan of institutions and organized religions. I believe that there is more to be learned from each other, more Wisdom we can ever possibly possess if we venture out of the confines of Tradition. I am more an advocate of mothering from the heart and of listening to our children. I like the idea of growing through motherhood and marriage more than perfecting my roles in either. I advocate questions and doubts alongside faith and trust. I have a need to look to the Creator and his entire creation as my Guide. I am hopeful that I can live out the messiness of my life in a beautiful way. I trust in Redemption. I want to learn from Life with grace and humility.

Isn’t that beautiful?

Vina is also someone I feel I could learn a lot from. I feel like I can learn a lot from her parenting style, her writing style, her marriage, and all of the little stories she shares. I can relate to Vina in “my own little quiet introverted intuitive feeling perceptive way” but I also feel like she is a bit farther along in the journey than I am, so there’s so much that I can learn from her.

She has four words that guide what she writes about and that influence the journey of becoming that she is on. They are Simplicity, Authenticity, Creativity, and Generosity. Here’s what she has to say about each of them:

Simplicity

I’ve grown quite a lot in simplicity the past few years especially after having lived overseas during my post-college years. It’s also my natural bent because I am an idealist at heart and I seek after the essence of things. I want to cut through the fluff, get down to the core of Life and live from the Center. Back to the Simple and the Basics, that is all.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Authenticity

Authenticity is something I am just beginning to grasp on a heart level. I’ve always known the kind of person I am, but only recently am I becoming truly comfortable in my own skin. To truly embrace who I am, the good and bad, the beautiful and the ugly. Because I’m all those things.

“This above all: To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man.~ Hamlet, Shakespeare

Creativity

Along with that is a rediscovery of my creativity, embracing the artist and the child in me who I have lost somewhere in life. When I participate in the act of creating, I come alive. Part of our calling as human beings is to add to the Beauty in this world.

“Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” – Albert Einstein
Generosity

And lastly, but not least is a journey towards generosity, an other-centered life. Simplicity, authenticity and creativity leads to abundance and when it overflows, it demands to be shared. I want our family to be a Life-giving force in this world. I am interested in looking at home management from a social justice and world perspective. How do our choices in our spending, eating and parenting affect the members of the bigger human family that we are all part of? How can we nourish our families in ways that are nourishing to the rest of the world as well?

“Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

(As a side note, just the fact that she included these quotes made me like her even more – I have a secret love for good quotes and have sort of collected them throughout the years).

Each of those words already had a special place in my heart before I ever discovered Vina’s blog and I really admire how she writes about them and the insight that she lends to them.

Last week Vina wrote this post about how she will be unplugging a bit for the summer. She has decided that she will be going “off the grid for the entire months of July and August except on Mondays.” On Mondays she’ll blog, comment, tweet, etc. But the rest of the summer she wants to spent time with her family and enjoy a little bit of an Internet Detox. I really admire this, and admire how she approaches unplugging for the summer. I so admire what she is doing for her heart and her family.

I unplugged from almost all social media and barely blogged at all through most of my pregnancy and firsts few months of motherhood. In many ways it was so good for me and exactly what I needed at that stage in my journey. But, lately, I’ve also been so glad to come back to it with full force.

I know from personal experience that when you don’t write often you start to lose traffic and subscribers. I don’t want that to happen to Vina and her beautiful blog. Vina is a writer who deserves to be read. So, even though she won’t be writing or commenting all that much this summer I really want to encourage all of my readers to go check out her blog. Look around, dig through her archives, read her about page, leave a comment, and SUBSCRIBE.

Vina is one of my all time favorite bloggers and I admire her so much.
A Prayer of Blessing for Vina of A Nourishing Home

Circle Vina, Jesus,
Keep peace within
and discouragement out.
Circle Vina, Spirit,
May these long days of summer be filled with laughter for her.
May all her days be filled with love and deep joy.
Circle Vina, Father/Mother of us all,
Sustain her growth in simplicity.
In authenticity, reveal to her new depths of herself, her daughter, her husband and You .
Inspire and breathe life into her creativity.
May her abundance overflow into abundant generosity.
Circle Vina, Jesus,
protect her deep heart,
guide her dreams,
quite her insecurities.
Circle Vina, Spirit,
Keep joy near,
and turmoil afar.
Circle Vina, Father/Mother,
Nourish her being,
fill her heart and home with Life.
In the name of the eternal three in one,
Bless Vina, that she might continue to bless others.
Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Admiration Monday: Elizabeth Ramos

June 14th, 2010

Ok, today’s Admiration Monday post is actually about someone I don’t know all that well. Her name is Elizabeth Ramos and even though I just met her I think she ROCKS!

Elizabeth and her husband Andrew recently spent a month in Prague visiting some friends of theirs who happen to be good friends of ours. My husband hung out with them off and on throughout their trip and I had the pleasure of having dinner with them and also a little impromptu cheesecake picnic while they were here.

They are both wonderfully talented designers in Greenville, SC. Andrew focuses on designing logos and web sites and Lib focuses on print design. SIDE NOTE: I love Lib as a nickname for Elizabeth – I’ve heard Liz and Beth before, and I have a friend named Elizabeth that I call Ella, but I’d never heard Lib before and I think it’s really cute. Anyway, they both also run this beautiful company, Two over Zero.

I liked Lib from the start. She was very sweet and she asked great questions (a characteristic I personally love). I felt like we would have plenty in common if given the opportunity to get to know each other better. We bonded with Andrew and Lib while talking about creativity and starting your own business (my husband does web design, web implementation and SEO work). We connected over a shared interest in food. And we commiserated over our brown thumbs and ability to kill living plants, despite our desire to have a garden.

Lib has a beautiful blog show casing her latest projects and creative endeavors, and sharing her thoughts. Here’s just a little tidbit of how she describes herself on her blog:

“I love simple beauty: a handmade bag, the warm smell of home-baked cookies, and the thrill of a thrift-store find.”

Yes, Lib and I could be friends.

Sometimes meeting new people is a strange thing. It’s great to meet someone you think you could connect with, but sad when you know you won’t have opportunity to get to know that person and there’s a chance you’ll never see them again. This big wide world is an interesting place, isn’t it? With so many interesting people, spread all across the globe. It’s a weird thought to think that I may have kindred spirits whom I will never meet, or who upon meeting I will never meet again.

Well, to all of my fellow lovers of good design, simplicity, and beauty, I encourage you to head over to Lib’s blog, look around, and then head over to her etsy store and see the beautiful things she creates.

Oh, and if you are an artist living near Greenville, SC, check out this amazing project Lib is starting. It’s called The Indie Craft Parade.  It’s “a juried art market, catering to independent artisans and their handcrafted goods.” You can apply to participate any time before June 18th at midnight (EST). It looks like it’s going to be an amazing event.

A Blessing for Lib:

Circle Lib, Father.
Keep joy near
and discouragement afar.
Circle Lib, Lord.
May she continue to see beauty in the simple.
May she find you in all beauty.
Circle Lib, Spirit.
Bless her envisioning and her creating.
Bless her work and her play.
Circle Lib, Father.
When self doubts creep in, push them out.
When vision fades into hard work, give her strength.
When imagination fails, bring to her inspiration.
Circle Lib, Lord.
Keep peace within
and discouragement out.
Circle and sustain Lib, Spirit,
In the name of the eternal three.
Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

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Things Are Happening In Prague

April 10th, 2010

Today I went to Berlin without ever leaving Prague… Or at least it felt a little bit like that.

This morning my dear friend, Carrie, and I went to a FARMERS MARKET!! I wrote Farmers Market all in caps because that’s how excited I am about it – the words should be read with the excitement and surprise due to all capital letters. Hehe.

The experience was not at all disappointing. Ok, it’s no Berlin Farmers Market, but it was really great. There were lots of stands with a variety of goods. I bought fresh yogurt (and regretted the fact that I didn’t also buy the fresh whey they were also selling at the same stand). I bought some Czech made honey, and ostrich meat too. Yes, ostrich meat! Carrie and I shared an organic crepe made from buckwheat and drizzled with honey.

All the stands were clearly labeled with the location where the farm was located. The people were friendly and nice and there was a general feeling of excitement in the air all around. They had TONS of beautiful flowers, plenty of fresh bread from local bakeries, fresh dairy products, honey, dried fish, veggies, handmade baskets and some fruit. I’m hoping that as we move into warmer weather there will be even more variety at the fruit and vegetable stands.

The market was located near Devicka circle and from what I hear it will be happening every other week throughout the summer. Personally I think that they should make it an every week market since the place was PACKED! There were so many people there that you had to wait in line at every stand. From what I hear the first one they did (which happened just a few weeks ago) was so crowded that by late morning the stands were all picked over. Today Carrie and I got there at around 8:45 and stayed for about an hour. There was plenty of food and other goods and it seemed they were very prepared for the crowds.

Carrie filled me in a little bit on the history of Farmers Markets in Prague and I thought it was interesting. Basically, before communism there used to be farmers markets in Prague really regularly, but the communists were, of course, against capitalism and private enterprises so they stopped the farmers markets. As far as we know this is the first farmers market to be organized in Prague since the communists stopped them (although, I could definitely be wrong).

Anyway, it felt really great to be a part of this farmers market.

Latter in the day Mathias called and said that he had seen this flea market type event going on in a warehouse just down the street and that we should check it out so Carrie and Thad and I walked down to explore. It turns out it was a big fashion market with tons of designers and lots of trendy unique stuff. It’s called Code Mode and it was really cool and totally had a Berlin like feel to it.

It took place in this massive old unfinished warehouse. There were stands everywhere with cloths, jewelry, purses, knickknacks, paintings and all kinds of other goods. There was chill funky music playing in the background. There was a big stage set up on one end where they did a fashion show last night and where there will be a concert tonight. There were tons of people mingling and shopping and, of course since it’s Europe, smoking. I could have done without the smoking, but other than that the place had a very cool vibe.

Things are happening in Prague. To me these things speak of the beauty, creativity, and individuality that is still very much alive in Prague. Some days I don’t see it. Honestly, some days Prague feels dead. But, today I was reminded that Prague is very much alive. The spring is here in Prague and there is so much more to come.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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Three more great links

March 17th, 2009

In honor of St. Patty’s day here is a great overview of the life of St. Patrick, including the prayer “St. Patrick’s Breastplate.”

This is also worth a read. It’s a great article by Julie Clawson bringing awareness to how little there is for children within the emerging church and calling for the emerging church to focus more on it’s children.

For while resources continue to amass for adults in the emerging church, very little has been provided for children.  There are few children’s curriculums that encourage, for example, resisting empire.  It’s hard to find brightly colored picture books that explore the Kingdom of God or children’s bibles that don’t chop up the text or impose moralistic interpretations on the stories.  I’ve yet to find resources that don’t limit spiritual disciplines for children to going to church, praying and reading the Bible.  As a parent I would rather my daughter learn that scripture is messy, that following Jesus is an entire way of life, and that believers are to seek justice for the oppressed.  I want her to know that growing our own food and picking up trash is a way of showing God we love him by caring for his creation.  I want her to respect people from other ethnic or religious backgrounds and not be quick to put God in a box.  These aren’t messages she will hear in most traditional church settings.  I’m more than happy to teach her, but I don’t want to have to teach her these things alone – reinventing the wheel at each step.”

 If this is a topic that resonates with you I encourage you to check out the article and also check out www.emergingparents.com.

And the last one… This is a TED talk on creativity from the author of Eat, Pray, Love that I found really interesting. I definitely recommend it.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany

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