Creativity Corner: The Shape of My Life

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can do.” —Arthur Ashe

We’re coming up on one year of our safer-at-home orders. This year has been wild, stressful, and so many other things! For some people, the extra time has been a great opportunity to be creative. For others of us, it has been disheartening. You might feel like your creative juices are stopped or that you don’t have the supplies or motivation to be your best artistic self, but! Resourcefulness is another type of creativity!

We can dig deep into our supply closets and create even when we come up empty-handed. There are great digital tools to create with, including pixlr and even Google Docs. We can also dig deep into our souls and create from our feelings right now. All of our feelings are important. They help us process the world and our reflections of our journeys right now. You don’t have to be joyful to create art. You can be sad, overwhelmed, confused, tired, hungry, or silly. Any feeling you have is a beautiful place to create from!

Today’s Creativity Corner includes art by Hamidah and a story by Alex. This story speaks to the way we might be feeling frustrated or overwhelmed with online school and our hope to regain control of our lives. The art piece explores color and line: the joys and focus that can come with drawing. Thank you, Alex and Hamidah!

If you have anything creative to share, please email Ms. Jeanette. You can also use the prompt below to get started if you aren’t sure.

Prompt: The Shape of My Life

Story by Alex

The schoolwork rose up as if it had been waiting for me. It piled up and almost reached me, but I kept running.

I was not going to be crushed by a pile of schoolwork. Not today!

As I ran, I saw that I wasn’t even paying attention to where I was — it was my school! There was my teacher’s classroom. I ran to the door and tried to turn the knob. Locked!

Wait — the janitor’s closet had the keys to every room.

I darted toward the cafeteria, found the closet, opened the door. I rushed in and closed the door behind me.

I sighed in relief.

I reached for the janitor’s key rack and found the key!

I opened the closet door, ready to run to class, only to find the piling schoolwork had passed the cafeteria. Other than students, the hallway looked open. Key word: looked.

The schoolwork turned toward the students.

Uh-oh — the bell was ringing now. The schoolwork was almost here. The students saw it, panicked, and ran.

Now I could barely get to class in time. I pushed through the crowd and finally reached the classroom door. I turned the key and got in.

A bright light shined in my eyes, and the ringing grew louder.

I woke up from the nightmare, relieved that today was Saturday and I’d finished all my work yesterday. Now’s the time to play Among Us, binge-watch my favorite Netflix series, watch YouTube, and sleep in.

I turned off my alarm and drifted off to sleep, this time with a dream.

So good night!