Color Outside The Lines

This morning, I went through Silas’s backpack to clean out last week’s papers and prepare him for the new week. In kindergarten, the majority of the paperwork that comes home is some sort of artwork, which is Silas’s “thing”--he loves to draw, paint, color, and just create.

As I looked at his work, I noticed that his coloring was not up to his usual standard–it was outside the lines, going in different directions, and my initial reaction was it looked a little sloppy. I told Silas that I loved his work, but at school, sometimes he may need to color a little slower and stay within the lines…

I immediately cringed…what was I doing?!?

Why would I tell him to stay within the lines when he is expressing his Self in his art?

It’s one thing if he is rushing through and not paying attention, which I do not think is the case because I know how much he loves art, to remind him to stay within the lines, color in the same direction, and make it look “nice.” But I don’t want to stifle his creativity and contribute to the loss of connection with his inner Creator, as so many of us experience in school.

I corrected my comments and told him that sometimes his teacher might ask him to color in the pictures a certain way, and he should follow the directions. But, if the coloring is during his free time, he should be as creative as he’d like to be–do whatever his heart has his hands do.

It might seem like a little thing, but I’ve witnessed my two older boys lose their creativity as they’ve gotten older…every once in a while, we’ll get a glimpse of it, and it is always fun to see. When they were younger, I was not in tune with my inner Creator like I am today, so I did not appreciate what creative outlets mean for us–I’m constantly trying to help Roman and Leo find new creative ways to express their Selves so they don’t reconnect with their Inner Creator when they are in their late 30’s, like me.

There will be opportunities for you to color outside the line of life, and I want to encourage you to do it.

Don’t stay within the lines because that is what we’ve been told to do our entire lives–if you’re stuck living within the lines on a coloring sheet, then chances are you’ll be stuck inside the lines of life, as determined by someone else, and miss the opportunity to color your greatest masterpiece–your authentic life.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC