When we tell stories about creativity, we tend to leave out this phase. We neglect to mention those days when we wanted to quit, when we believed that our problem was impossible. Instead, we skip straight to the breakthrough. We tell the happy ending first.
The danger of this scenario is that the act of feeling frustrated is an essential part of the creative process. Before we can find the answer — before we can even know the question — we must be immersed in disappointment, convinced that a solution is beyond our reach. We need to have wrestled with the problem and lost. Because it’s only after we stop searching that an answer may arrive.
Not sure how much the kid understood this video (via Brainpickings), but it entertained him, reminded me, and gave us the opportunity to talk about the value of mistakes, failure and persistence.
Related reading for teachers, parents and interested parties, from Science Evangelist Dr. Ainissa Ramirez‘s TED Talk:
…recast science education from being about memorizing facts, “a trivial pursuit,” to being about problem-solving and thinking for oneself. We need to move away from focusing on tests to showing kids that it’s okay to learn or to take risks. “Children need to explore and to discover. This is how you innovate; you fail your way to your answer. Scientists fail all the time; we just brand it differently. We call it ‘data.’”
Love that.
Watch more videos about creativity.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.