When my kids make a drawing for me, I have absolutely no judgement whether it's beautiful or not. I purely love it and accept it with all my heart. When I think about this, I can hear their voices say: "Daddy I made this for you."
Kids have a natural desire to create something and then to give it away. They have no judgement whether they make something beautiful or ugly, they just create without inhibitions. As a parent, it is very easy to see the beauty in everything our kids create. Our first reaction is driven by appreciation. In this situation, it would never cross our mind to react with qualification. We probably would say: "This is so sweet, you made this specially for daddy?"; and not: "Thank you dear, but I liked your brother's drawing better."Appreciation is driven by intent. We give recognition to the intention with which something is created. Qualification is driven by comparison and only exist if there is a reference.
When we react towards the intent of our kid's drawing, we add joy to the kids creative process. In other words, we stimulate their creativity. If we react in a comparative way, we diminish the joy of the creative process and start to build inhibitions in our kids' minds. In other words, we limit their creativity.
People with too many inhibitions are afraid to create anything and they only do "safe" things, which in the end will restrain their personal growth. Theodore Roosevelt said. "Comparison is the thief of Joy". Comparison and qualification are sometimes necessary but we should always find a way to appreciate peoples' intentions and look for the beauty in any creation.
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"Be inspired and you shall inspire."
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