I’m sitting in Starbucks with one of my nephews – Demetrice Allison. He’s 13 years old, and full of creative expression. The only problem is that he doesn’t have the proper environment to foster his creativity.
Question:
How many of us grew up with ideas and dreams and a curiosity to touch the hot stove?
It’s within all of us to express ourselves creatively. However, what typically happens is that our parents, our teachers, and society stomps it out of us. We’re placed on medication if we seem a little too abnormal or outgoing as kids. We’re told that too much creativity and uniqueness will make us weirdos (ie. Michael Jackson). So we suffocate our creative expression out of fear of not fitting in. To hell with fitting in!
One thing I love about my nephew is that he has found a way to foster his own creative expression himself, without the need of someone else’s approval. He’s learning to accept what makes him unique. He’s learning to not suffocate his creative genius. He has a huge fascination of video games and is one of the funniest 13 year olds I know. I’m usually laughing at something he says whenever I’m around him. He told me that his dream is to be a movie actor/comedian (anyone with any potential offers for him, please contact me). He has a creative way of getting into character and he loves to talk about the weirdest things. I love it. Why? Because it’s HIS creative expression.
Here’s my mission/purpose in his life:
To create and foster an environment where his creative genius can live.
When we hang out, we play all of his favorite video games and watch episodes of “Family Guy”. We laugh. We joke. I love his sense of humor. I’ve made it my goal to inspire him to be himself, and not be ashamed of it. To be the weird, comedic video-gamer that he is. To be a self-educator and to tell the funniest jokes he can imagine.
Why?
Because that was what was done to me (shout out to Vincent Hunt). I was encouraged to express my creativity freely. I was inspired to spread my wings, to ask the questions, to seek for myself. I was liberated to dream big, think wide, live loud, and speak louder.
Here’s my challenge to you:
I would challenge you to do the same in someone else’s life. I challenge you to let the creative genius in you run wild, and to inspire others to do the same. We’re trained to be boring, obedient adults from childhood. But I challenge you to break the rules and be YOU.
I leave you with one of my silly quotes:
“You’re a BEAST! Spread your wings and slap the hell out of somebody in the process. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll awaken the beast in them.”
-Antwon Davis
