Introduction

Creativity saved my life.

A friend took me out for a lovely birthday celebration: dinner at a posh Atlanta

restaurant, followed with a performance of A Chorus Line by the Broadway Touring Company.

As we left the restaurant, I observed a young man leaning against a wall. He fell into step

directly behind us. Nervously, my friend and I continued toward the corner. We passed another

young man leaning against a wall who joined the first young man. Now, two strangers were

following us much too closely to be up to any good. The only thing between the corner and

impending danger was a long hotel awning with a newspaper box. I wheeled around and said

to my friend, “Oh, look what is happening in Cambodia! Isn’t it terrible?”

What my friend and I knew about Cambodia wouldn’t fill a thimble, but we improvised a

lengthy, impassioned dialogue on the spot, apparently oblivious to the two men who had nearly

tripped over us when we stopped. Things were not progressing as the two men expected.

They stared incredulously at my friend and me, then looked at each other. The first man

shrugged, and the two continued on their way.

S#%t happens. Horrible things happen every day, every hour, every minute. No one is

immune. We cannot control the events of our lives, but we can control our reaction to them.

Here is where imagination and creativity can save your life.

Unfortunately, creativity and imagination are not actively encouraged, as our lives

present us real-world problems demanding our immediate attention. We are told to get serious,

playtime is over! What is there more serious than the knowledge that two strangers are

preparing to attack you?

“Think about it; the ultimate goal of learning is not to gather information but to solve real world

problems.” Jennifer April, What Everyone Should Know About Super-Efficient Learning.

We live in the Information Age, bombarded with news, advice, instruction, distraction,

destruction. How do we process it all? How do we apply it to our lives? Technology is

advancing at breakneck speed, simultaneously creating and eliminating jobs. Life’s punches

come hard and fast. How are we supposed to cope?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles

the world.” Albert Einstein

The time is now to teach our children and ourselves to become more resilient, more self-

aware and self-confident through the power of imagination and creativity. Time and space must

be provided to fully develop this power within. Only then will we have the means to rise above

the noise and the garbage, and create the life we desire.

After all...you’re only limited by your imagination!

“The greatest gift you were ever given was the gift of your imagination.” Wayne Dyer

Chapter I

Self-Doubt and Criticism

“Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that the modern world is sorely lacking imagination.

And grown-ups are the biggest culprits of all.” Sarvenaz Tash, The Mapmaker And The Ghost

We are often our own worst enemy, because we relinquish our power to the criticizers

and naysayers -- who are abundant. Why do we let the opinions of others influence us?

Society values conformity and control, and this is ingrained in us. We long for

acceptance above all else; it is so much easier to allow others to define who and what we are

than risk excommunication from “friends.” Some of us will join in to criticize those who don’t

meet the group’s standards of perfection and conformity. Social media is infamous for its

“haters” and “trolls” who persist in vicious personal attacks. They use the relative anonymity of

the internet to build themselves up by tearing someone else down, whether or not they know

their victims personally. Because of a lack of imagination, “trolls” and some of their victims are

unable to see themselves as the beautiful, powerful people they can be.

“Hate is a lack of imagination.” Graham Greene

We must take action to turn the tide on this vicious tsunami by making a conscious effort

every day to feed the spirit creatively. Whether it’s doodling on a pad, singing in the shower, or

learning to play a musical instrument. I hear you...”I’m not creative, or talented or good enough.

I’ll just embarrass myself.

I’m going to paraphrase Cool Hand Luke: “What we have here is a failure of the

imagination.” Oh, no! The “F” word we fear most -- Failure.

“I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Michael

Jordan

You don’t have to become the next Picasso, Maria Callas, Meryl Streep or Beyonce.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to rediscover the joy of play. All you have to do

is try.

Chapter II

Liberation Creativity

“I doubt that the imagination can be suppressed. If you truly eradicated it in a child, he would

grow up to be an eggplant.” Ursula K. LeGuin, The Language of the Night

I am a passionate supporter of arts education. I have witnessed the empowerment of

children given the opportunity to explore their creativity. At the infancy of arts education in the

public schools, The Greater Augusta Arts Council of Augusta, Georgia sponsored the

groundbreaking Arts Infusion Program. Central to the core of the program was the use of

teaching artists in the school. These teaching artists, using their areas of expertise in visual art,

dance, and theatre, would create lesson plans that supported the standard curriculum. Some

schools and teachers embraced this idea; some had serious misgivings.

In the course of my participation in the program, I met the following objections:

1) “You’re trying to train professional artists.” False. That was never the

object of the program.

2) “You expect too much of these students.” Also false. I only expected

students to try.

The objection that shook me to my core:

3) “These students are the bottom of the barrel. They’ve never amounted

to anything, and they never will.”

This teacher led a classroom of poor readers with poor attitudes and little motivation. I’m sure

she was frustrated to the point of burnout. But all I could do was look at her and wonder if her

students were aware of her assessment of their potential.

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their

ingenuity.” George S. Patton

In researching for my lesson plans, I came across the book The New Games. I was

struck by The Three Rules: Play hard, Play fair, Nobody hurt. Brilliant! I adapted these rules

for my classes, posted them so all could see them, and taught them to the students:

The Three Rules

1. Play Hard

Always do your best. Your best is always good enough.

2. Play Fair

Treat every person in the class the way you want to be treated. No

one wants to be treated badly.

3. Nobody Hurt

Never, ever make fun of anything anyone says or does in the class.

If a student ever said, “I can’t...I don’t know how”, I would remind the student and the

class of Rule 1, and say, “All you have to do is try.” No judgment. No criticism. Period.

Once students felt comfortable and safe in the class, terrific changes began to occur:

class participation was abundant; students were excited to come to class; and those students

who were considered “problem” students were often my best students. I received notes from

parents commenting on how much their child knew when asked about a lesson, how positive

and confident their children were becoming, how their children were writing stories and poems.

Here was positive proof: when one is free from external judgment and expectations, one will

rise to one’s own expectations, which far exceed the expectations of others.

“The Possible’s slow fuse is lit

By the Imagination.” Emily Dickinson

There are 5 key concepts of Liberation Creativity:

1) Don’t take yourself too seriously. I am willing to be a little silly to get the ball

rolling, and make students more comfortable.

2) No judgments. Whatever a student tries, I will say “Good!”

3) Enjoy the process. Smile, laugh, encourage.

4) No expectations. No pre-determined outcome.

5) Just because the class ends does not mean the fun is over. Encourage

students to continue creative exploration outside of school.

Chapter III

Harnessing Controlled Chaos

In collaborative learning, students are often in small groups, working together to meet

the lesson objectives. Collaborative learning in a creative classroom often involves the class of

students as a whole. The creative classroom may appear chaotic, but it is controlled chaos.

When introducing cooperative story building I tell the students that I will begin a story.

Once the story is underway, I will stop, point to a random student and ask, “Then what

happened?” The student takes over the story and continues until I say “Good!” I then point to

another student, asking, “Then what happened?” We continue in this fashion until everyone

who wishes to participate has added to the story. At that time, I finish the story, and only this

first story. Any subsequent stories will be entirely in the hands of the class.

My favorite introductory story building lesson is a story about a young boy who wakes up

excited and happy, because it is his birthday. There will be pony rides, a bouncy house, and

lots of outdoor games, because his home doesn’t have much room. But he discovers that it is

raining. Pouring buckets of rain. His birthday plans are ruined, and the boy is disappointed and

angry. He gets dressed and looks for his shoes. He can’t find them. The more he searches,

the angrier he gets. He reaches under his bed, and pulls out a pair of shoes he has never seen

before -- hideously ugly, shiny lime-green shoes with hot pink polka dots and purple shoelaces.

“There’s no way I’m wearing these shoes!” Unfortunately, those are the only shoes he can find.

He has to wear them. He puts on the shoes--”And then what happens?”

Now the magic happens...one by one, students join in, adding twists and turns until

every student has had an opportunity to participate.. This is when I step in with the

“ending”...”So the day is done; the boy is ready for bed, and goes to sleep. He wakes up to find

that it had only been a dream! It was really his birthday, and the weather was beautiful! He

leaps out of bed and gets dressed. Then he can’t find his shoes. He reaches under his bed

and pulls out a pair of shiny lime-green high-tops with hot pink polka dots and purple shoelaces.

The End. Or is it? Okay, class, we have reached the end of this story, but there can be so

much more. Do you see that you can create a story? That you can imagine all sorts of

adventures? Are you willing to try?” The answer is always an enthusiastic “Yes!”

Chapter IV

Not Just Kid Stuff

“Art shows better than anything else that there are multiple ways to solve a problem and

multiple ways to be creative. This is especially handy for business owners large and small, as

well as for our individual aspirations of whatever we view as success.” Otto Kroeger and David

B. Goldstein, Creative You: Using Your Personality Type to Thrive

We limit ourselves in so many ways. The purpose of this book is to break the chains of

limitations in our own thinking, and judgmental criticisms of others. One of the biggest lies in the

world is “One Size Fits All”. I also reject “One Size Fits Most”. Most what? Neither of those

phrases can be applied truthfully to clothing, learning styles, personality traits, standardized

testing, what-have-you. “Think outside the box”, we’re often told. What box? Who the hell

decided there was a box?

“We should acknowledge that criticizers take very little risk; they’re in a position where they

make judgments of people who are actually trying to do what they love. In the grand scheme, a

piece of junk produced by someone who is willing to take the risk has more meaning than the

actual criticism.” Fernando Suarezerna, Andres Salazar, Ruiz Velasco; Burn This Book: A

Creativity Tool

Liberation Creativity can work for you as it did in my classrooms. No, I’m not saying

“One Size Fits All”. In its very nature, Liberation Creativity has as many permutations as there

are people. Just remember The Three Rules (adapted for individual usage):

1) Play Hard.

Do your best; your best is always good enough.

2) Play Fair.

Treat yourself the way you want to be treated.

3) Nobody Hurt.

Toss judgment and perfectionism out the window.

Don’t beat yourself up because you have difficulty mastering technique. Creativity and

imagination must be developed at the same pace you would work to develop muscles and

stamina. You won’t create Masterworks any faster than you would lift 500 pounds or run a 26K.

Pace yourself, and above all Enjoy the Process! Technique can come later -- but never at the

expense of your enjoyment.

For example, I love skiing. I will never progress to the Black Diamond level because my

enjoyment of skiing ends where self-preservation begins. I don’t have to be an Olympic or

World Cup skier to enjoy skiing. I also enjoy painting. It doesn’t matter whether or not my

paintings will ever hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. I paint because it makes

me happy. I paint because I enjoy it; I find release from tension and stress. Painting gives me

room to step back from the problems of the world, to breathe, and experience peace and joy.

As you develop your creativity and imagination, your self-esteem will improve; you will

see problems from a different perspective, and you will amaze yourself with the solutions you

will discover. Not overnight, but it will happen. All you have to do is try.

“A person is talented whether or not he uses that talent, but creation can only come with action.”

Fernando Suarezerna, Andres Salazar and Ruiz Velasco; Burn This Book

Chapter V

Creativity for Social Justice

“In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, (imagination) is the power that

enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.” J.K. Rowling

As diversity of ethnicities and cultures become more evident in our society, there is an

equal and opposite reaction among certain groups and individuals. Finger-pointing,

misinformation and disinformation contribute to social unrest and social injustice. A tragedy for

a nation proud of its roots in democracy, founded by immigrants.

Creative exploration provides opportunities for different perspectives and the ability to

see life through another’s eyes. I was preparing a class of second-graders in a theatre game

called, “Don’t Let Go.” On the playground, we were to form a single line, holding hands. The

idea was to form different shapes on the playground with our single line. I noticed a stand-off

between two white students and a black student. I asked, “Is something wrong?” The two boys

pointed at the little girl and said, “She won’t hold our hands.” I asked the little girl, “What’s

wrong, sweetie?” Her big brown eyes filled with tears and she sobbed, “I’m prejudiced!”

I asked the rest of the class to take a seat on the bleachers while I comforted the little

girl, who had wrapped her arms around me. I wasn’t sure if the girl meant she was prejudiced

against the boys, or if they were prejudiced against her. I did know that prejudice had reared its

ugly head in my class, and needed to be dealt with.

“Class, do you see how sad she is? I’m sad, too. Remember The 3 Rules? If we can’t

follow The Three Rules, we can’t work together in class. We can’t be creative. If we can’t be

creative, how can we be free?” The girl had stopped crying, and I asked, “Do you think we can

try again?” She nodded yes. I asked the class, “Can we all hold hands together?”

All holding hands, we walked around the playground. I began chanting, “Don’t Let Go!

Don’t Let Go!”, and the students joined the chant. We formed different shapes, chanting all the

way. As we approached the door into the school, I began turning the line so that the children

spiraled all around me. In mock horror, I said “Eek! I’m surrounded!” The children thought this

was very funny. I asked the little girl, all smiles now, to lead the class back into the classroom

as I held the door. I never again had to deal with prejudice in that class.

I didn’t change the world, but I did change the attitude of those students, if only for a few

golden moments. I hope those moments continued to resonate with them, inside and outside

the classroom. It still resonates with me. Social change doesn’t happen overnight, but it can

happen.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

Chapter VI

Where Do You Want to Go?

“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we will go nowhere.”

Carl Sagan

Over the past 40 years, I have acquired a lot of research on creativity. Left Brain vs.

Right Brain, Balanced Mind Theory, Holistic Thinking, etc., etc. Creativity is unique to the

individual. Whether it be thought or action, visual or aural, no two people will perform or

perceive the same way. What my mother describes as red, I see as orange. While I find J.S.

Bach’s Solo Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin positively transcendent, Mother compares them

to fingernails scratching on chalkboard. Within our own perception, each of us is right.

Creativity is the epitome of diversity.

The exercise and exploration of creativity promotes skills in problem-solving, rational

thinking, communication and collaboration. Creativity builds self-esteem, gives release from

anxiety and stress, and provides opportunities to see another’s point of view. These are

valuable skills for real-world problems.

We must become proactive in exercising creativity within ourselves and our children.

We must reject perfectionism and value judgments in the development of individual creativity.

We must rediscover the joy of play so we will work smarter, better, happier. All we have to do is

try...we’re only limited by our imagination.

“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and strength, use it

to create.” Maria Montessori