“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ~ Pablo Picasso.
Children express themselves beautifully and easily through creativity.
Drawing, dancing, storytelling seem to be their most natural forms of communication.
So why do we lose this creative spark as adults?
The key lies in the qualities of our inner child artist that we end up blocking in our adult life, and these qualities are about having an open mind and an open heart.
Children find magic and beauty in small things and details: a falling snowflake, a ray of light, a ladybug on a leaf… These are seem as big treasures and wonders for a child.
Psychologists often talk about the difference between young children’s consciousness and adults’ consciousness. As adults, we develop “spotlight” consciousness, which is very directed and narrowly focused on a specific task. It is good for problem solving, but that comes at the expense of missing out on a lot of interesting and beautiful things around us.
Children’s consciousness is referred to as “lantern” consciousness. It’s much broader and instead of being directed at one fixed spot, it illuminates everything around, like a lantern casting light in all directions. This type of expanded consciousness is good for inspiration and creativity.
As we age, our awareness narrows, and as we know more, we actually.. see less.
The good news is that we can still shift back to lantern consciousness. When we travel and find ourselves in unfamiliar places, when we break our routine to explore news things, and when we practice mindfulness to reignite that sense of wonder.
Reflect on these questions below to see if you can shift to your expanded consciousness more often, and if you can make your inner child artist happy:
– Can you name at least three things that caught your attention today? What senses were engaged in those moments: sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch? Our artist brain is the sensory brain.
– When was the last time you experienced awe?
– Have you stepped outside your routine recently? How did it change your perception?