03 Mar Free Your Artist Within with 4 C’s: Curiosity, Creativity, Courage and Conversation
Art by Nechama Lock
By Ruth Schimel PhD, Career & Life Mgt. Consultant, Author
www.ruthschimel.com ruth@ruthschimel.com 202.659.1772
If you were still under five years old, imagine how free you would be to express any artistic side of yourself. When I took Mona Brookes’ course on drawing with children at the Children’s Museum, presumably to get freed up to finally write my dissertation on courage, she opened my spigot. Mona said “there’s no right or wrong way to draw” and two fat tears rolled down my cheeks.
You don’t have to cry, but do discover what emerges when you follow your:
Curiosity about ways to expand your capacities to express nurturing, cooking, friendship, humor, decorating, dress, ideas, images…
Creativity to explore media that intrigues you including clay, watercolor, crayons, pen and pencil, acrylics, wood, stone, metal, fabric, fibers, photography and ???
Courage to put aside what you or others may think or say in favor of “the willingness to realize your true capacities by going through discomfort, fear, anxiety, or suffering and taking wholehearted, responsible action.”
Conversation within yourself and with interested others to express what you and they may want to do and how to do it.
For your adventure within:
- How do you know your interests https://theconversation.com/how-do-people-know-their-interests-the-shortest-player-in-the-nba-shows-how-self-belief-matters-more-than-biology-272492?utm_medium=article_clipboard_share&utm_source=theconversation.com
- www.artingconversations.com – For curious, adventuresome beginners and knowledgeable people who want to explore and discuss art. Illustrated.
- For a personalized approach to uncovering your interests and artful side, learn about the approach being developed, contact Ruth (see info at top).
- Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross https://www.yourbrainonart.com/
- Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again by Austin Kleon https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/789670/dont-call-it-art-by-austin-kleon/
- https://psyche.co/videos/james-earl-jones-reads-kurt-vonnegut-on-why-art-is-central-to-a-meaningful-life
- Online courses at Rhode Island School of Design (for temptation/exploration} https://ce.risd.edu/?utm_source=colossal&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=26SpAdult&utm_term=Fri+Feb+20+2026
- The Origins of Creativity by Edward O. Wilson
- How to think like an artist. 15-minute TED talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcFRfJb2ONk
Share This Link
