In many ways, our society is returning to some of the habits of the good old days. Creating home cooked meals from locally grown fresh ingredients, knitting and crocheting handmade items for wedding presents, and teaching children paper crafting techniques like paper doll chains.
This return to the days of the past is surprising, but refreshing.
A recent interview of Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of is one of the latest well known writers and speakers to speak out in favor of the return to a creative world. In her interview with Lisa Tippitt on the program On Being, Gilbert explained that humans have a history of ancestors who created. Humans are what Gilbert refers to as the “making ape” and fortunately, no one is left out of the inheritance of creativity.
Unfortunately, many people can pinpoint the moment when they were told they were not creative.
Gilbert goes on to tell Tippitt that no three year old was ever given a handful of crayons and thought, “I do not know what to do with these.” No four year old was ever given a stack of Legos and then thought, “What I made last week was so good I will not try again.” Instead, according to Gilbert, at some point these creative beings are directed away from their creativity.
Parents who foster their children’s creativity are actually encouraging not only creativity, but also curiosity. Whether it is encouraging children to create with basic office supplies like return address stamp self-inking pads, for example, may teach children a to develop a curiosity that will serve them throughout their life.
In the interview between Tippitt and Gilbert, the two discuss that what today’s children may thing of as boredom, may result in the actual development of curiosity. In fact, many recent research indicates the our entire society is suffering from a lack of boredom. We live in a society that is so busy few take the time to be curious and create.
Etsy and Other Online Creative Outlets Indicate That Americans Are Looking for Unique Outlets and Crafts
Who would have thought the common office supplies left in a basket could lead to fun stationary with the use of return address stamp self-inking pads, name stamps, and monogram stamps. In a world when we all shop for the same bargains at the same stores, it should come as no surprise that some consumers are finally looking for something that is different, a little more unique.
One example of a customer who is looking for unique gift ideas is a parent who finds herself looking for teacher gift ideas. Personalized stamps for teachers, for instance, may be the perfect answer for the next Teacher Appreciation Day. In fact, personalized stamp pads and supplies are perfect answers to other gift needs as well. Entire websites like Etsy and Pinterest devote themselves to the language of curiosity that Gilbert talks about.
As a new generation learns how to distinguish the difficult line between passion and curiosity, Gilbert explains that curiousity is milder, more democratic, more constant, and more friendly than passion. She sees curiosity as natural, common, and available to everyone, especially children. In fact, she believes that the part of the future of our society may come in helping children learn to create interesting things with some of the most boring products, whether they be office supplies like colored staples and return address stamp self-inking stamps.
A common saying is that the definition of an interesting person is an interested person. In fact, even the things that seem the most interesting are in reality 90% boring and it takes the curiosity during the boring times to keep life going.