I gave an introduction at a family painting class this morning and I think I struck a chord with the kids and parents there.

I hadn’t really thought about what to say, hadn’t actually planned on doing an intro, so I ended up talking about how the fun of creativity was the point of the whole thing. And if the kids (or the adults) we’re getting stressed about how their painting was going, it was ok to turn it into a whole different thing. In fact, they could just smear paint around on the canvas if they wanted – as long as they enjoyed doing it.

I swear I felt a sense of relief in the room.

And when I went around a little later, several kids had done their own thing – some making delightfully glorious messes and others just veering off on their own course. I was delighted to see it.

And one kid was struggling through the process of creating the planned piece so I helped him take a break from the project and try something else.

I felt like I made a connection, did some important work, like what I said had mattered.

I love this feeling.