Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Ida Clare, It's Time to Unlearn Something


Happy Muesday Friends,

I love learning.  I love going to the library because knowledge is just waiting there, dangling shapely legs over the edges of the shelves, seducing me into traveling down a new path I had no intention of going.  Are you as shocked as I am that they let you check out way more books than you can actually read?  And then there is the Internet.  Have a question?  Type it in and bam, the answer appears.  I am in awe that so much knowledge is available for a willing learner.

Having said all the above about learning, I would also like to make a case for unlearning.  Let me explain.  With all the knowledge out there it is so easy to become a know-it-all.  (There, I’ve admitted it!)  It is easy to become rigidly set in ways and harbor ideas that may have moved past their worthiness or validly.  Think how hard it was for people to unlearn that the world was flat or that reality TV isn’t real.

I believe that a creative person challenges the status quo.  A creative person will question what she knows as true and move past what she may have been taught.  If you can do that you open yourself up to the mystery and wonder of the muse.  You become a new beginner and you become teachable. 

Set aside some time to question something.  It doesn’t have to be the meaning of life.  Questioning why you do something the way you always do can give wings to a new method that could make your art soar.  How would your art benefit if you unlearned a bad habit or an old fear?  Unlearn something today. 

Have a creative week.

Hugs,

No comments: