This weekend I went ice-skating outdoors with my family on Saturday and Sunday,  (yes it is still cold enough here for ice).  Let me start by saying that I am an average skater, perhaps less, I am not good with stopping and I cannot go super fast, and my ankles get sore on one side from turning (moving in a circle around the rink).  I don’t really take risks when I am skating.

I was however amazed to see all the little ones zooming by on their skates, confident and determined.  They would fall down (padded by their snow pants) and get right back up.  They were fearless.  It was their fearlessness that allowed them to keep trying, to keep learning, and to keep enjoying what they were doing despite all their falls.

When I looked around the rink I noticed that there were many who had that same apparent fearlessness, including my 13 year-old son, but also many were a bit more reserved.  What was the difference between those that were older and fearless and those who were not? Confidence.  Yet the littlest skaters had confidence as well.  But their confidence was not based on their acquired skill, it was based on their willingness to let go and trust the process.

This made me think about creativity, and how often people give up on their own creativity at a young age because they don’t feel their art is “good enough”.  The education system fails our creativity in that sense because of it’s focus on “technical skill” in order to be graded rather than expressive ability.  And here lies the crux of  the issue.  The ability to express one’s self through art does not have to be determined by skill but rather it can be determined by desire and a belief that one has the right to experience joy.  Unfortunately this desire and connected confidence is often tied up in our beliefs of whether we are skilled enough.  And if we are not “skilled enough” then there is a belief that we do not have the right to be spending time on our creativity.

I get so many e-mails from people who inquire about my workshops for someone else, not themselves because they are “not creative”.  Yet we are all creative beings.  Children know this, or rather they feel it and don’t question their right to express themselves through art based on their ability.  They approach their art with a fearlessness that allows them to let go and express and enjoy the process.  We can learn a lot from them.  Somewhere inside we have this knowledge and have experienced this fearlessness of letting go.  It’s a matter of allowing yourself once again the permission to express through art.

Are you ready?

 Join us is Toronto for the next Painting With Your Muse on May 10th 2014