It's amazing how many spiritual lessons one can find in the process of sculpting a clay pot. The clay, the wheel, the potter's hands and even the house have so much spiritual significance. It doesn't take long to see yourself in that clay pot being shaped and formed on that wheel.
During the course of the event, we were given an opportunity to "play with clay" ourselves. The first task he gave us was to make anything we wanted out of the clay. I was amazed at the creativity in the small group of people we had. The youngest person in attendance was about 5 years old and the oldest about 70. There were of course many different items, including little people, houses, bowls, crosses, and even a cornucopia! Noticeably, however, all the projects represented things that had already been made... they were representations of things we are familiar with and maybe even use every day.
The second task the potter assigned us was to make something which "has no name", something which has never existed before. Now that took some real thought and contemplation. What I noticed in that exercise is that the adults had a more difficult time with that assignment than the children. The children came up with all kinds of different things, but the adults had real trouble tapping into the creative side of their brains.
This got me thinking: I wonder if we, as parents and educators, sometimes squelch the creativity resident within our children. We provide them with things that define the limits of their play and thus hinder their own creative abilities. I remember when our children were little. They could play in a cardboard box for hours while the toy truck would sit off in a corner. The truck was defined by wheels, windows and doors whereas the box could become a boat, a submarine, a spaceship or a playhouse. The possibilities were almost endless.
What can you do to stimulate your child's creativity? What steps should you be taking to make sure that you don't unwittingly crush that natural creative bent in your young one? Think about it!
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