Fam[ily]

When given the task of writing about how families and my own family can make me creative, I didn't know what to think; therefore I felt as though my family didn't make me feel creative at all if I couldn't think of a single inspiration for the task.
Then my niece, Aubrey Olivia, was rushed to the hospital with breathing complications Tuesday night and my head was flooded with inspiration from that little girl. Aubrey means the world to me so I took the time to sit down and pray that she'd be okay and reminisced on the fun times I've had with her.



Aubrey, as well as my baby cousins, makes me a more creative person every time I am with them. When with children, whether they're in your family or someone else's or you're simply watching other people interact with children, you always see creativity in action. We all become different people around children. We can be whatever or whoever we want to be around them and they will not judge you, and we take full advantage of that. Around Aubrey, I'm a princess like Belle, and her dog is our horse. Around my cousin Bella, I'm a horse. Although we wouldn't, at least not usually, act like this in real life, we are these characters around children. I become a full blown princess or horse for hours at a time, like an escape from reality for a while.
You see, all children have is creativity and imagination. They don't know what it is like to deal with reality, have a full-time job or have a need for money and necessities. We all wish we could float through life as a child; however, when you're a child, you pray that you'll wake up an adult tomorrow. This irony is unbelievable.
According to Frost's Meditation, we all have the ability to maintain this playful child, we have to use classes like Creativity Theory and look at experiences and situations in a different light to discover the imagination and creative attitude that we never truly lost, just lost sight of.

"All children are artists, the problem is how to remain an artist when he is grown up." - Pablo Picasso



"Imagination will often carry us to a world that never were, but without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagen

http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/aug2008/creativity_imagination.html
For more information visit the link and explore Frost's Meditations.

These ideas inspired me to learn how to make my immediate family for creative or imagination oriented. I came across a site of different thoughts from different people explaining just the opposite that Frost's Meditation discussed, that there is in fact no way to re-inspire creativity once you lose sight of it.

http://ask.metafilter.com/65741/Why-are-some-families-more-creative

The people on Ask MetaFilter gave credit to their beliefs that once imagination is lost it is gone forever by posting quotes from famous people and statistics.
One writer described their friend’s family as being very creative because members of the family are writers, song writers, poets, etc. but had wondered why their family was not as creative as their friends. They were answered by others with the idea that it takes money to be creative. I found this extremely interesting. They explained that well-known creative families that we hear of, such as the writer's friend, all have the money to spend free time being creative. These families are often wealthy and don't have to worry about working day and night in order to pay the bills. Those that can pay their bills without being a workaholic have the money and time to spend being creative. They have time on their hands to waste and therefore their creative juices get flowing more often than those that must be dedicated to their work.
I began to believe these responders. It became noticeable that most of the people we think of as being "creative" within society, other than children, are wealthy, such as famous singer and songwriters such as the late Whitney Houston. Whitney’s Aunt, Godmother and Uncle are all in the music industry. Another famous creative family is the Jackson's. The Jackson 5 established the late Michael Jackson and his brothers as some of the greatest singers and song writers to ever live.



I disagree that once you lose your creativity it is gone forever unless you have the money and time to spend recreating it. I believe we can all find the child inside us with an imagination and an adult with the ability to create whatever he or she sets their mind to. However, I do agree with the responders, that it is, without a doubt, much easier to do with the time and money that can be allotted to the cause.

Fly Over States

When I was told to blog about freedom the first thing that came to mind is how criminals that are in jail for a while get the opportunity to pay for the crimes they committed but also get to explore their creative side. Many people that I've met over the years that have been in jail are proud of what they were able to create and the way they were able to turn their life around while "doing time" through their drawings or songs they were able to write, or books about their life they want to publish some day. In the post attached about Prison Art and Inmate Artists the author describes how it should be no surprise that many of our images that we see on tattoos and famous works of art come from "outsiders" that were kept confined with nothing but their thoughts and creativity materials.


As the week went by I thought of other ways that freedom influences creativity and when listening to Pandora Satellite Radio on my way to Waynesburg University one morning, I realized that one of my new favorite songs (because I'm a girl and we have a different favorite song, or twelve, per month), Fly Over States by Jason Aldean was about the freedom that people have when they're in the country. We have freedom in the United States but that freedom can be used for many different purposes. The freedom to express yourself through your artwork in jail, of the freedom to travel a long, open road in the country with nothing but your thoughts, which has the ability to take you wherever you want to go.
Country music always talks about the freedom we have in the USA to do what we want, go where we want, think and say what we want, and how we should be extremely proud of that. This song explains that people that city underestimate the ability that people from the country have to go on a long drive with nothing but the wind in their hair, or lay on a blanket outside at night and come up with different patterns or images in the stars.
Country music can make me feel the sun on the dreariest of days. Country music has the ability to make the gloomiest of people feel happy about their life and proud of who they are, no matter their situation.

"Take a ride across the badlands, feel that freedom in your face, breathe in all that open space." - Jason Aldean

If you don't like the country, take the time to listen to the song; it just might change your mind. Like most country songs are very descriptive of what something feels like or looks like, Aldean uses the creativity of paintings to describe the atmosphere of driving into the sunset.
Copy and Paste the link below to watch a YouTube video of "Fly Over States" by Jason Aldean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEwmDWcHKH4&feature=related

Although I've found several ways that freedom and the lack of freedom has an influence upon creativity throughout the week, Anne Bannister had the greatest impact on me on Wednesday night.
Anne was a 2009 graduate of Waynesburg University’s Department of Communication and now works using her media skills to help non-profit organizations create awareness of how we, as brothers and sisters under Christ, can help each other to create a better world. She showed a video that she edited for the Edge of Seven foundation that helps girls in Nepal find liberation through education. The Nepali girls in this video were so eager to be educated, rather than married off and develop families. It had such an impact on me that the people of Nepal in the video had never even seen a shower before, or heard of a stove. They knew nothing about the items that I take for granted every day of my life.
This video and Anne's speech influenced my creativity and ideals for my future. I've always wanted to be in the music industry in order to work with artists in Nashville; however, after Anne's speech and the Edge of Seven video, I want to use my Public Relations skills and my love for music to help those in need. I want to use my skills and eye for talent to help discover those in other countries or in the United States that face poverty to understand that their talents, no matter what they are, can take them far, no matter what their current situation is.
I still want to follow my dreams with the music industry. Anne's program inspired me to work with current, well-known artist to help them understand the importance of donating to organizations like the Edge of Seven that help individuals in foreign countries develop in order better their families and communities.
Example of this:
Wyclef Jean, from Haiti, holding up the flag of Haiti as he considers running for President.

no shoes, no service, no problems.

Growing up with boys meant that I was constantly outside as a little girl. We were constantly getting dirty, playing games outdoors such as jail-break and football, or riding four-wheelers from dusk until dawn. Growing up in that atmostphere was probably my greatest blessing because it has made me into the adventurous person that I am today.
When growing up with the boys we would always find a way to have a "clubhouse" whenever we were kids. Having this clubhouse was a way for us to escape from our parents to a place where they couldn't go or find; a place that was all our own, like a hidden garden of eden for children. Though it sounds as if we built these clubhouses like many kids built theirs, ours was completely made by God and Mother Nature. Our clubhouses included nothing but trees, vines to swing on, water springs and creeks to drink and wash off in and paths to run on and our friends. Like any other kids, we had rules to get in to the clubhouse and roles that we each played; being the only girl, I was never the leader, I was always the princess.
Our clubhouse looked much like the picture attached of the opening in the trees with the vines that you could swing on to get from one "island" to another by swinging over the creek.
However unlike my childhood, at age 20 I most likely wouldn't look at a creek and an opening within trees in the woods and think of creating a clubhouse. I do not have the same imagination I did in my younger years, nor do I have the want to create a clubhouse. Although I do reflect back on the times I had in our clubhouse, I do not get the urge to create a new one.
I do still find a sense of imagination and creativity when I explore and find myself outdoors. When I see a tree standing alone, or several with sunlight shining through, or leaves falling to the ground, I see creativity and beauty everywhere. I get the urge to take a picture and find the creative ability to find the correct lighting and angle to capture the beauty. On top of pictures, my Public Relations interest kicks in and I find the creativity to want to host an event in a specific place found within nature because of its beauty and the effect it had on my creative abilities in hopes that it would effect others in the same "nature," pun intended.
The idea that I don't see nature in the same way I did as a child, and the fact that my imagination has changed so much but still exists within me, makes me wonder what other factors I see differently now than I did as a kid.
Now nature inspires the way that I decorate a home. When I spend time outdoors whether I'm hiking or fishing, I often find flowers that would inspire a picture to hang in my future home or the set up I would make with an earthy tone and a center piece. This type of nature brings out my inner peace and serenity. It gives me a calming feeling, it's almost as if everything dissappears when you're outsite exploring. It is just you in that moment where you are, you and your thoughts. The imagination and creativity you can pull from nature brings out who I am as a person. It brings out who I was growing up in a clubhouse, to my future PR career, to the way I decorate and relax when floating through the easy days of life. Nature can become inspiration for anyone, I believe. You just have to let yourself go, let yourself think about whatever you want and just notice everything. Notice the streams, the trees, the birds, the flowers and just allow yourself to be whoever you want to be, wherever you want to be, in that moment. Once you can enjoy that, I beliecve you can embrace your life as is a little bit more when you return to reality.