I have the amazing fortune to have an exceptionally gifted artist as a child.  I get to call her a child for a few more weeks only because she will soon be 18.  We spent most of today at a series of college portfolio reviews, and she received glowing reviews.  The college rep from SAIC was literally bouncing with excitement today while reviewing my daughter’s work.  As the mother of the artist, this was pretty cool to watch.

How responsible am I for all of this?

Not very.

People have asked me what I might have done to nurture her talents.  Yes, I think I have contributed by encouraging her and buying her lots of art supplies, from a very young age.  But I was not intentionally growing an artist — I was just entertaining her with the things that entertain me.  What she did with those art supplies was totally out of my control.   The talent — whether it came from some deep genetic code or a special talent fairy that happened to fly over our house one day is not something I made happen.  The whole thing just grew on it’s own.

Below is a TED Talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on “Nurturing Creativity.”  While Gilbert herself is not a mother, and she was not speaking to mothers in particular, her message is nonetheless a fantastic one for mothers.  She talks about how defining someone as a genius is actually a huge error.  The ancient Greek believed that you actually had a genius that lived in your walls (kind of like Dobby the House Elf) and provided inspiration.  This is in contrast to the notion that became popular in the Renaissance that an individual is a genius himself.  The former assumes that the inspiration comes through you but it is not you.  The latter puts all the pressure on the individual and results in tortured souls.

As I listened to her talk, I thought that this would be a wonderful thing to teach our children as they grow up.  That creativity and inspiration is something you allow to happen rather than something you push and prod.

It’s an amazing talk.  Enjoy.