Creativity Conversations...

Last year I started a series called Creativity Thursdays, planning to post every Thursday on the topic of creativity.  Then life went a bit bananas, as it tends to do :), and that series fell by the wayside.  One of my (as yet unwritten) goals for 2014 is to resurrect that series...beginning today! 

Another of those 2014 goals is to consistently dedicate some of our group time during school to stretching our creative muscles.  Yesterday I introduced my (very preliminary at this point) plans on that to the kids during group time.  I love the ways that God works in timing things in our learning!  We have also begun a new adventure in our Bible time...a Bible study on Who God Is, working our way through the Bible with a specific goal of what God says about Himself in Scripture.  Each of us is reading the day's assigned passage and journaling in some way (note-taking, art journaling, etc.) what we learn from it about who God is.  Then we discuss the next day during group time.

We started yesterday with Genesis 1.  It was amazing the things we pulled from that chapter about God's character!  It was a good start to our study, and I am so looking forward to what God is going to do in our lives and our family as we continue it.

One of the things that excited me about yesterday was the fact that our Bible study dovetailed so beautifully with our creativity study.  The first chapter of Genesis, of course, is all about God as Creator.  Creativity begins with Him, and as beings created in His image, He created us to be creative as well!  We discussed that creativity is a character quality we are to work to build in our lives, just like diligence or sensitivity. 

We discussed what people typically think of as "creativity"...being able to draw, or paint, or write music, or decorate beautifully...and that while those things are all part of creativity, true creativity encompasses so much more.  We discussed this definition of creativity:

Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking.

We certainly use creativity in artistic endeavors, but we also use creativity in managing a home, solving problems at work, training our children, and using our finances wisely.  A bit earlier, we'd been talking about cancer, and the need for a cure for such a horrid disease, and as we talked about creativity, we realized that even such things as finding cures for horrible diseases involves creativity...people looking at a problem (cancer and other diseases) in a new way in order to find a solution.

One of the children had brought out during our Bible study that Genesis 1 shows us that God does everything for a reason, with purpose and order.  I realized that that is an aspect of Godly creativity as well.  "Creative types" (and those of us who wish to be :)) often use creativity as an excuse for disorder and chaos.  And yet the Bible says that God is not a God of disorder and confusion. (1 Cor. 14:33)

While I may like to think that my (currently out-of-control...ack!) cluttered desk is a sign of a creative mind, it's actually a sign of other, much less positive things.  I've read more and more articles and books in recent years talking about clutter being an enemy of creativity.  Ouch!!

I'm well aware from personal experience that this is true.  The more cluttered and chaotic my workspace (and my life!) gets, the harder it is for me to be creative in any way.  I'm afraid that is one (among many) reasons for my difficulty in blogging of late...the disorder has gotten out of hand, making it even harder to focus.  (And yes, cleaning off my desk is at the top of my "to do" list at the moment...I'll try to report back when I have tamed the beast!)

I'm looking forward to our Creativity Conversations (and activities to go along with them!) during this season of our schooling, and I'm looking forward to sharing more about creativity here on the blog as well.  I'd love for that to be interactive sharing...for you to be involved in those conversations by sharing your thoughts, ideas, resources, and creative pursuits in the comments!  I'm also toying with the idea of a linky where you could link up your creativity-related posts.  Would you be interested in participating?  Please let me know in the comments!

Happy Creativity Thursday!

Previous Posts in This Series:
Teaching Creativity When You Don't Feel Creative (And Why Do I Need to Teach Creativity Anyway?)
Teaching Creativity: Where Do We Start?
20 Resources for Teaching Creativity
Teaching Creativity: Creative Challenges for Kids



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Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!  Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!  If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!  You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email.  (And if you really want to make my day, leave me a comment below, or drop me a note via the email box in the sidebar. :))