CREATIVITY
The verb “Create” means to bring something into existence
We are created by our birth so it’s my belief that all human beings are born with a strong urge to be creative, but, in order to stay creative we have to get a goodly and constant supply of “Wows”. As a child, these “Wows” are often fueled by an outside influence such as a parent or a teacher, but the best kind of “Wows’ are those that are encouraged from within.
Creativity
is not limited to painting works of art, or designing a wedding dress, or
building an architectural masterpiece.
It can be found in a little bit of metal or wood that just fits and
enables a damaged motor to run, or picture to hang straight, or a space craft
to stay aloft. Creativity is the art of
lateral thinking, the art of wondering, and what today is often referred to as
“thinking outside the box”.
When we were
young our Covey did a lot of “thinking outside the box”. Mainly because we
didn’t have a box, certainly not the box that toys came in. If playing is a
dress rehearsal for life then we were certainly getting ready for a life of
creativity. Our games were fueled with
imagination rather than electricity.
Outside games involved physical activity and inside games often centred
around paper and pencil, or bits of string, or found stones. The only limitations being what else could we
do with them?
It’s
certainly obvious that one of our members absorbed these playing lessons very
well as evidenced by the following story:
It was a
time of much importance. It concerned
the first visit of LB’s in-laws to this lovely land of Canada. The usual preparations were well in
hand. House was cleaned from top to
bottom. Lawn was mowed and garden was
spruced. Food was bought in large
quantities. There were just a couple of
items still on the “To Do” list. A rod
was required for a bedroom drape that needed hanging, and a welcoming cake
needed to be baked. Both of these jobs
had LB’s initials beside them. After all
he was in the construction trade and he was a trained baker.
The day started
out fine. The cake had risen beautifully
and was cooling on the kitchen counter prior to being iced with marzipan and
frosting.
LB decided
it was good time to start on his other job of hanging the drapes.
As it happened that was not a good decision. You see at that time there was another member
of the family that has so far not been mentioned.
His name was Toby. Toby was a very large, very lovable black dog
that liked cake. Well actually, he liked cake and any other food that was
available, and to Toby’s nose and eyes that cake on the counter was available,
so he took a bite!
That was
just about the time when LB strolled into the kitchen feeling good that he had
finished installing the drapes.
From
what I’m told he exploded in the only way that LB could explode, so I won’t go
into details of that. Instead, I will
concentrate on the creative part of this story.
Had this
happened to me I’m pretty sure that after I’d finished crying, the cake would
have landed in the garbage with a thud.
Not so with LB.
I wish I had
a picture of that cake, because it became a piece
de resistance, a work of art. You know the expression: “When life gives you
lemons, make lemonade”, well he certainly made lemonade!
The guests
were enthralled with the cake. Never had
they (or anyone else) seen anything like it.
There it
stood in all its Canadian majesty: NIAGARA HORSESHOE FALLS in royal icing! Everyone wholeheartedly agreed it deserved
all the “Wows” it received.
Many also
agreed that it tasted wonderful. Of course
there were others who explained they were overstuffed and would come back to it
later – much later!
