Every (young) child is an artist until we redirect their energy to reading and writing. Re-igniting the 3C’s – curiosity, confidence and creativity – can help us find our adult creativity.
Adult creativity, anyone?
If you walk into any reasonable pre-school and ask a room full of 5 year olds “Who can draw?” every hand in the room will shoot up. And not only will the hands go up, but the little bodies will mob you, jostling for space at your table to show off their skills.
So what makes a five year old confident to say “I can draw”?
It’s simple. What every five year old still has in spades – and mainly because life has not ground it out of them yet – is the 3 C’s, namely Curiosity, Confidence, and Creativity. So what does that mean for artistry, and more importantly what does it mean for us in adulthood?
How Curiosity drives kids
Curiosity is young children’s prime learning mode. If something catches their eye, they want to try it out. They touch it, taste it, smell it and shake it to see if it rattles. They don’t stop to think “Am I allowed to explore and try new things? Will I be any good at exploring and trying these new things?” They just do them, and that keeps their skill levels in every sphere moving forward relentlessly and joyously.
So curiosity is key, and because it is such a driving force, it compels them forward. Which leads us to their next strength in the artist sphere – confidence.
Why kids’ art grows through Confidence (not the other way round)
Mozart was a musical prodigy, but the first time he laid a chubby fist on the piano, I bet he didn’t produce a melody. Pre-schoolers are much the same – their fine motor skills are still embryonic but they throw themselves into their drawings and expect their parents’ approval.
And this innate confidence enables them to build skills, because instead of allowing constant self-doubt to slow them down, they just keep working and creating things. Which brings us to the final C – creativity
What kids can teach us about adult creativity
According to Sir Ken Robinson, “Creativity is the ability to produce original ideas that have value.” But kids don’t really worry about the definition, or the ‘original’ part of that – they just dive in and start doing stuff. And of course what they produce is derivative in some way – after all, there are no new ideas under the sun, just new variations on old themes. But as they persist, they change and enhance what inspired them and in doing so they evolve a style of their own. The key point is that they don’t let not having an original idea to hold them back. It’s us adults who do that.
Why would an adult want to preserve their Inner Artist?
Yep, it’s true that many careers out there seem way removed from art. And yet all of us (and not just people in overtly creative spheres) can benefit from nurturing our adult creativity. Embracing what makes every child an artist can enable us to rediscover a space to play which leads to mindfulness, now proved to enhance productivity in our personal and professional lives.
Because adult or child, we are all human
And the fact remains that curiosity drives new learning in humans of every age. Acknowledging what we are curious about something is the first step to pursuing it, which then opens our minds to possibilities that we may not otherwise discover.
Similarly pursuing new skills or ideas confident in the expectation that we start with little talent but can improve with practice means we are continually evolving and adding value to our work. University of Stanford professor and researcher Carol Dweck calls this a growth mindset and has identified it as an important factor in longterm achievement.
Finally, embracing the fact that we are innately creative in a seemingly unrelated sphere can encourage us to begin considering small changes to the way we do all our work. We then have every possibility of evolving innovative approaches as we investigate and explore.
But what if my work doesn’t have scope for all this?
Not every role or profession is overtly creative, and undoubtedly some workplaces are more innovative than others. But even if your work doesn’t call for much creativity right now, do you know what your future holds? There is no time like the present to begin cultivating your mind and preparing for greater things.
That’s the point of embracing your inner preschooler
While your fifth birthday may be lost in the mists of your memory, your inner preschooler is still intact – even if parts of it are a little hazy. So jump-starting curiosity, confidence and creativity is simply a matter or awareness and determination – and we are all capable of that, too.
It’s worth it – even if just to regain a childlike view of the world.
And your ‘grown up’ work will benefit, too.
Next Step?
There’s no need to be at a loss – adult creativity options abound around here 🙂