FREEDOM MONTH: DAY 20: “No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.” ― Ansel Adams
I remember being in 1st grade and we were drawing. I used to love the big, fat crayons we got in school. I am sure that is no longer part of the curriculum, but we got them. I only went to public school in 1st grade. Then I transferred to parochial school.
But, in first grade, we were drawing with our big, fat crayons and one of my classmates was drawing a tree that was purple. Now, I remember our plum trees were a reddish shade of purple, so I got what he was after, I think.
The teacher came by and told him to draw brown trees with green leaves. That is what a tree looks like. I was shocked! Did he never see a yellow aspen or the glorious colors of maple trees in the fall? I even knew where trees grew that were bright red, and yes, the purplish colors of a plum tree. And what about Gingko trees, whose bark was green, not brown?
I am sure this teacher, whom I really liked, was not aware of trees in nature. That there are so many colors that Mother Nature, in all her magnificence, created. And, too, what is wrong with a purple tree? She obviously was unaware of avant-garde artists of the early 1900s who threw away the photographic images of things and made them all square or rectangular and made colors do interesting things.
So much for creative expression in the public schools. I will not even talk about creative expression in parochial settings; it does not exist.
There used to be, in Mr. Adams time still, a great deal of censorship and judgment around creative expression. It survives, to some extent, today. We are afraid of those things we do not understand. I am quite bothered by the idea that it is not okay for me to express myself in ways that may not meet with the approval of others. While we consider our nation to be “free”, there is a tremendous amount of prejudice and judgment in all that we are allowed to do and see.
In a world where the Universe has unlimited creative powers, we see things that are diverse and wonderful. We also see things that are awesome and powerful…like hurricanes and earthquakes. I do not know which of these is something I would do away with. I am not sure that there are causal factors we can point out that completely satisfy the curiosity they engender.
The Universe has created us to be creative. All of us are co-creators with that Power. We get to create the lives and the outcomes we most want to create. Some of that is outside the realm of what we are here to do.
As we process our lives, our hopes and dreams, our fears, our spirits through the 12 steps, we are opening up, more and more, to the flow of Divine Creation. This is the source of hummingbirds, clouds, oceans, dolphins, puppies and kittens, hurricanes, tornadoes, and all the rest of it all. That same Creative spirit gives us lilies and trees (some even sort of purple!).
Why then, would it deem it necessary to limit our creative energies. It doesn’t and never would! That is a construct of fear (EGO!) and the Screaming Purple Monkeys (SPM) who make up those kinds of rules around what is and what is not allowed.
I still believe in purple trees and blue elephants and pink tigers and, yes, even screaming purple monkeys. They just don’t get to run my life or tell me what to create. I love this!
Dolphin Hug 