Connecting with your Inner Child

By Jean Ward, Certified Professional Life Coach and a Rapid Transformation Therapist

When we're doing art, why are we so intimidated by a blank canvas? As a former art teacher and as a fledgling artist myself, there's nothing quite as daunting as sitting in front of a blank canvas no matter how big or small it is.

In my over 20 years of teaching art to children, I have noticed the younger a student is, the more comfortable and less bothered they are by the inviting canvas.

From my experience, the younger the child is, the less inhibited they are in trying new things. When running my art program Messy Art to 18 month old children, I provided a variety of mediums for them to explore and create art with. With these new art materials to work with each week, I witnessed their sense of adventure and discovery.

Most children are ready to get their hands dirty, to experiment, and make art in the process. They do it with no self-consciousness, meaning they don't really care what other people think about their creations. They also have no preconceived notion of how the art piece should look like. Therefore, without self-consciousness or preconceived notions of the process, freedom is available to truly express yourself and enjoy the process at the same time.

As a child gets older, they begin to care about what the people think about their art. I've heard so many stories of children being told by somebody in authority, that things have to be done in a certain way. For example when a child paints purple grass, comments from an authority figure like, “Grass is green not purple” begin to stifle the child's creativity.

The child begins to be less courageous and less likely to think outside the box. Many are afraid of criticism from others and fear judgment. In order to protect themselves from rejection, they begin to build a wall around their creativity. It's safer.

It is no wonder that so many people say, “I'm not good at art.” Everybody is born creative. Fearing criticism, rejection and judgment, we begin to protect our creativity. Your creativity is still there, we just need to break that wall down, one brick at a time.

Picasso, once said that it took him three years to learn how to paint like Raphael, and the lifetime to paint like a child.

Maybe that is what stops us from trying new things, we are afraid of not doing it right, making a mistake, or afraid of what people might think. Remember it’s what you think that matters!

Remember, we were all kids once upon a time. We weren't afraid to try something new or worried about what other people think. I believe we had a lot of fun in the process.

A question to ponder, what might you do if you give yourself permission to make mistakes and be okay with that?