Creative life

“To live  a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”-Joseph Chilton Pierce

Conform, blend in, behave- so goes the litany

Of commands handed out freely

To children, by adults who are anxious

To mould them into citizens conscious

Of the unwritten laws of the society

To make them abide by rules of propriety-

So within lines they learn to color

Their curious nature becomes duller

The fear of being wrong is a deterrent

From trying to swim against the current

Even though we would like them to be creative

We want it within parameters that we give

To them, not realizing the creative process

Needs some freedom to bring success…

**

As a parent, I have been guilty, it’s true

Of expecting my child to conform too

But when I try to be creative, I know

I just need to go with the flow

Of my thoughts, uninterrupted 

I do not want my project disrupted

By the demands of practicality

How can I then in reality

Expect my child to draw and paint

The way “it should be”, within that constraint

I should let his imagination run wild

I should hear stories concocted by my child

Without interruption, so that he does not learn

To fear being wrong, he does not turn

Away from his ideas that outlandish seem

He should have the opportunity to dream-

I hope I shall keep this in mind

Such that his creative side he can find

For creativity should a way of life be

Unhindered by rules of the society.