Whether we are poets or parents or teachers or artists or gardeners, we must start where we are and use what we have. In the process of creation and relationship, what seems mundane and trivial may show itself to be a holy, precious part of a pattern.
Interpretation
Embrace your current situation and resources to create meaningful relationships and art.
This quote highlights the importance of starting from our present circumstances, no matter how ordinary they may seem. It suggests that in our roles as creators or caregivers, what we initially perceive as mundane can reveal deeper significance and beauty when we engage with it authentically, thus making our contributions truly worthwhile.
In practice
To inspire students, a teacher might share this quote while discussing the importance of using available resources for projects.
We are all creative, but by the time we are three of four years old, someone has knocked the creativity out of us. Some people shut up the kids who start to tell stories. Kids dance in their cribs, but someone will insist they sit still. By the time the creative people are ten or twelve, they want to be like everyone else.
Where do new ideas come from? The answer is simple: differences. While there are many theories of creativity, the only tenet they all share is that creativity comes from unlikely juxtapositions. The best way to maximize differences is to mix ages, cultures, and disciplines.
Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a peanut with your nose across a very dirty floor.
You know, even I have had work or ideas come through me from a source that I honestly cannot identify. And what is that thing? And how are we to relate to it in a way that will not make us lose our minds, but, in fact, might actually keep us sane?
Discovering a new explanation is inherently an act of creativity.
Bring together things that have as yet never been brought together and did not seem predisposed to be so.
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