starshield

Dear Mr. Erz, I wanted you to know some things. I failed your algebra class in 9th grade, pretty much on purpose. I know. That's a fairly common story, and not that surprising. We clashed a little. I remember asking the typical questions, like "What will I ever use this for? I'm gonna be an artist!" Here's the first irony of the story. I've never used algebra in my life except for fun. I got into war-gaming and had to figure out stuff like collision equations. It's the Algebra Teacher's Revenge. But the real story here is what you didn't do. You didn't reject me, or look down on me, or nag me or drag me down. You just accepted my decision

http://starshield.deviantart.com/art/A-spiritual-experience-420488530 One of my students commissioned me to do this for her Christmas present. The source photo is a picture of her and her father when she was ten. He died of sudden heart failure not 3 years later. This little girl lost her dad. Right now, she is 15 yrs. old and tougher than boiled rope. In her mind, she has to be. When I found this out, there was no way I wouldn't have done this for her. I tend to be a pretty spiritual person, and I'm pretty empathic, but I wasn't prepared for what happened today. I was finishing this up as quickly as I could because I wanted to get it done

I don't believe that encouraging the process cheapens it. I can understand that people who already consider themselves as creative might not feel a need to figure out why. I find it ironic though, that they say that the way to be creative is to not think about what makes them creative and that's what they find makes them creative. If this is so, then they ARE following the process, and they ARE thinking about it, and their process DOES work. For them, NOT thinking about it IS the process. What I can't agree with is people saying they are not creative, or saying that others are not creative, without being willing to say what creativity is.