to sit still, color within the lines and walk in a straight row with no talking.Kids…
Love to explore and create epic adventures
Build and create magnificent masterpieces
Write or tell stories that capture the wildest imaginations
Dream of becoming presidents, inventors, scientists, great artists, musicians, and world changers
They believe they will be great at whatever they do. I have a cousin that when he was little wanted to become the very best trash collector ever. I love that!
Disagree and fight hard in one minute, and then quickly forgive and move on to being the best of friends again.
Kids aren’t afraid of making mistakes.
Yet.
Our boys loved Lego’s when they were little. Or for that matter, anything they could create a huge tower with. So when the biggest -tower- ever would crumble to pieces on the floor before reaching its full potential, it was just an opportunity to try again.
Somewhere along the way, though, kids grow to learn that mistakes are bad and something to avoid at all costs. In Middle School, my son loved art class. One day the teacher had each student creating clay pots. As she came around to observe Andre’s progress, she picked up his pot and crushed it into a clump and said, “This is not how to make a pot. Let me show you how it should look.” And proceeded to finish the project for him.
Message sent loud and clear. No mistakes permitted. Do you think that stifled some of his own 12-year-old creativity? Absolutely.
As adults, we’ve become conditioned to fear, and thus avoid, mistakes at all costs. What’s the best way to avoid making a mistake? Don’t try anything. This approach may keep you mistake-free, but it may come at the cost of having the joy of doing something that is important to you, and that matters to the world.
What is it you want to do? Is fear of a mistake hindering you or keeping you from even starting? Think hard about it. It’s possible that part of your call, destiny, and greatest fulfillment in life lies in the balance.
Good stuff.
I don’t think the joy-stealing risk aversion just happens “somewhere in the process”; it’s programmed into our institutions (yes, including the ones that should be broadening our intellectual and spiritual horizons), at a core level. It’s part of what they teach us “maturing” is all about–as the incident with your son and his art teacher sadly illustrates.
Thanks, Joel. Teaching kids to follow rules and being able to follow instructions is of course all good of course but wish it didn’t have to come at the price of stifling creativity. The tension created causes me to look for a “third way” to educate kids, not an either or, which allows for both ends of the spectrum.