“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” -Edwin Land

“It’s always too early to quit.” -Norman Vincent Peale

“The earth has music for those who listen.” ~William Shakespeare

“Art is not a thing, it is a way.” ~Elbert Hubbard

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, but must be felt with the heart.” ~Helen Keller

{Pictures taken by my adopted mom}

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ~Oscar Wilde 

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ~Emerson 

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.” ~Jack Kerouac

“How we spend our days is how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and with that one, is what we are doing.” ~Annie Dillard

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~Albert Einstein

“I invent nothing, I rediscover.” ~Auguste Rodin

“To draw, you must close your eyes and sing” ~Pablo Picasso

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the “creative bug” is just a wee voice telling you, “I’d like my crayons back, please.” 

When we were younger, our imaginations were limitless and unfettered by practicality and qualifications. Once when I visited by my wife at the local elementary school where she teaches, I asked her class, “How many of you can draw?” The entire class raised their hands. Then I asked, “How many of you can sing?” Jubilantly the entire class raised their hands and they all began to sing different songs. It was a chaotic and wonderful sound.

When I am teaching, I ask my college-age students the same questions. In each class, sadly  only a couple of brave people raise their hands. You see, the students have added a self-imposing qualifier to the question. While I asked, “How many of you can sing?” they heard, “How many of you can sing well?” Picasso said it: “All Children are artists. The problem is to remain one when you grow up.”