Fearless Creativity
- Matt M.
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 5
A couple of days ago I headed north to visit some family friends. When I arrived, I heard their sons playing in their creative studio space so I walked over to say hello. Without hesitation the older son, Adrian, said: "What I am doing is painting. I have covered this canvas with a background color and now I am outlining in pencil what I will be painting onto the background. I am being very careful with the outline.".
Adrian then showed me the tablet he was using which displayed an image of what he was outlining. Then his younger brother, Alex, came over to me and said: "What are you doing here?". I explained that I needed to borrow some more tools from his dad so that I can help my mom with some work at home. He accepted this answer and went on with whatever creative project he was focused on.
A few moments later I was sitting in the dining room on the top level of the house. Alex then comes walking in, stands in the living room and simply says, "Matt." in a clear and firm tone. He successfully and wonderfully gained my attention. After obtaining my attention, Alex asked: "What is your favorite planet?". I responded, "Jupiter".
My dear friend Alex then said, "Ah, I know Jupiter. I'll be right back!". Upon Alex's return, he showed me a hand sewn version of Jupiter. It was part of a children's sewing kit which included all of the planets of our solar system. Pretty cool. Once I admired Alex's craftsmanship of this hand sewn Jupiter, he asked: "What other planets do you like?". I responded, "Mercury". Side note: I enjoy this planet's name as it's the Roman version of Hermes, the Greek messenger of the Gods.
Alex then proceeded to bring all of his hand sewn planetary creations to the table. It was a blast to see his willingness to share, his appreciation of his own work and his explanation of his creative process. I soaked it all in. My friends explained that when Alex received this planetary sewing kit, he sat down for 3 hours and focused solely on completing all of the planets. Alex had a single pointed focus on his creativity.
I can safely say that each time I visit their home, I am inspired by these two kids. During this particular visit, I was inspired with their fearlessness within their own creative processes and their single pointed focus. Both Adrian and Alex were only in a flow of being creative, not judging themselves or having fear that their creative work would be judged by others. They simply created, shared their creations and then moved onto the next creative opportunity that came into their consciousness.
As I was driving home after this recent visit, I reflected on Adrian's and Alex's fearlessness in relation to my own creative pursuits. I appreciated the journey of evolution I have accomplished with freeing myself about "perfecting" my work, needing external validation from others and/or fearing judgement of my creativity by my external world. I also appreciated that these aspects still do exist within my being-ness.
As I am starting to navigate June, I find myself seeking to release these aspects of creative insecurity. I find myself wanting to take the time just create without having to control my external world. I find myself wanting to create without having a plan or structure at all. By doing so, I'll be creating from my heart and will be in the flow of creativity versus creating through my mind which has linear, as well as emotional, limitations.
So I thank my friends Adrian and Alex for showing me the power of fearless creativity. You both continue to be an inspiration in my life and our planet is so lucky to have you on it.
Thanks for reading!
Matt
PS: The parents of these two boys are also quite wonderful too ;)
