Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up?
Is being grown up pulling you back from being creative and imaginative? Has your imagination and wonderful dreams been stifled by maturity and adulthood?
Children are born creative and believe they can do anything. They have not experience the real world in front of them yet. so they live in their own world which is full of possibilities. Children has the thought that there's so much u can do and so much u can be. That’s why when they play doctors, firemen, and teachers, they all seem to be really into it and there’s nothing you can do or say to them that they are otherwise, but as we get older and mature, this ability seems to fade away. Brian Aldiss quoted, “When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and they enter society, one of the politer names of hell. That is why we dread children, even if we love them; they show us the state of our decay.” and that “A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.” (Rachel Carson)
We are taught to be logical and to make sense of thing. This can get in the way from being imaginative and your dreams. Children clearly have the advantage as what Sam Levenson says “One of the virtues of being very young is that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination.” Even Pablo Picasso knew this wonderful ability when he commented “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” because he knew that as child you have all the possibilities in the world in front of you and you can be anything you want and do whatever you like.
However, as you grow up every decision you make seem to put away all the possibilities in life such as choosing one career and giving up all the other possibilities as Mencius observed “The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart.” The power of imagination might be fading as you get mature but in order to maintain it, you need to nurture and trust it with all your heart.
First, you need to learn to look at life through the eyes of a child. Rachel Carson observed that “A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood.” That means you have to strip yourself out of your assumptions and things that you know. You have to approach life with a fresh mind and curiosity. Explore every possibility around you.
Always ask yourself "why not?" in any situation which you think it's impossible to handle. You will start to realize that all this time all the answer that you have been given is nothing but excuses, and all those excuses are just obstacles you have to face along the way.
Besides that, you must learn to live in the present. Jean de la Bruyere said “Children have neither past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us do.” Forget the past, enjoy the present and dream of the future.
Other than that, you have to have a child-like innocence. Approach life with love, curiosity, faith, optimism and hope. The world now may be full of evil, but your world can be the brightest, fun and full of excitement if you choose to see it that way, like most of the children do. Let you imagination run wild and free, unrestricted by the realities of life.
The child in us has long been kept away. All we have to do is just to set it free. So, in the words of Gaston Bachelard, “like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us.” Don’t let the child in you die.
Reference: Awaken the Inner Child (http://www.motivation-for-dreamers.com/inner-child.html)
