I’ve been reading a book about Creativity by the dancer and choreographer, Twyla Tharp. It’s called The Creative Habit. One of the invitations in the book is to answer 33 questions to explore your Creative Autobiography.
The first question is: What is the first creative moment you remember?
I have a poem that I wrote in 3rd grade with Mrs. Atchison. She was a warm and inspiring teacher, who I know now, appreciated my creative spirit. I thrived in her classroom. I loved that she read us poetry every day. And one day, she gave us an assignment to write a poem of our own.
In considering my creative autobiography, I absolutely know that my mother supported my creativity because, among many other things that she did, she saved the poem that I wrote in 3rd grade. I’ve included the poem below.
What touches me so much about this poem, is that at age 9, I was passionate about SOUND. It wasn’t a poem about beautiful singing, which was what I set my sights on as a teenager, trained for, and spent years pursing a career in opera. It was my 9 year old’s passion for natural, expressive sound!
This is what I intuitively was searching for, when, in my mid 30’s, I began my healing work to connect my classically trained voice with my whole, expressive being. I could tell that I felt weirdly disconnected from my authentic self, and that nothing was more important than finding my own voice.
As glorious as a trained voice may be, for me, the journey wasn’t ultimately about pursuing this kind of beauty. It is about the beauty of something much more basic and primal.
What matters most to me, now, and what MovingVoice is all about, is that we, as human beings, get to have our emotional expression. We need to feel connected to our own expressive voice.
I want to live in a world where vulnerability, expression, creativity and imperfection are valued and celebrated!
Here’s the poem that I wrote as a 9 year old. I’ve included the original, as well as the text, so that you can actually read it!
A Sound Is A Sound by Eve Pollak
A sound can be anything that waves in the wind.
It can be a drop of sweat dripping off your chin.
A sound is a lovely, beautiful, wonderful thing!!!
Do I make sounds? Boy do I make sounds!
I make soft sounds, loud sounds, weird sounds, funny sounds, lots of sounds!
Yes lots of sounds.
Even animals make sounds. Sounds like naah and baaaa.
There are millions and millions of animal sounds.
Sounds are like music!!
Sounds are like peace!
And sounds are like listening to footsteps walking down the street.
Sounds are like water trickling and streaming and burbling – that is another sound.
Remember, as I will repeat. Sounds are there when you are in need.
I’d love to know, what is the first creative moment you remember? Reply in the comments!