by Joe Forbes
I don’t color inside the lines. In fact, I usually make my own lines. When my daughters were little and we’d color together - I would often make people and animals polka dotted or plaid. Color was subjective too - I would pick whatever color I felt needed to be used. Trees were often blue and orange, the sky was regularly purple and swirled. And the sun always wore sunglasses. My daughters followed my lead and let their creativity guide them.
This became a problem when they’d go to school and an unimaginative educator criticized my children’s choice of colors. “People aren’t supposed to be purple. Dogs aren’t supposed to be green,” the notes home would read.
These often made for interesting parent-teacher conferences where I would try to explain my opinion on creativity and art.
We all need to explore and unleash the artist inside. It doesn’t matter what it is. It could be common creative vehicles such as painting, singing or writing. But just as those are well known modes of expressions, there are so many others - baking, gardening, carpentry, and so many more. Whatever you choose to do, don’t feel you have to follow the rules - or the DIY YouTube videos you watched. It’s absolutely acceptable to color outside the lines. And remember, the sun always wears sunglasses.
First published on LinkedIn
Color Outside the Lines / Joe Forbes