Met a guy that remembered me from college. He remembered artwork I did there 28 years ago.

It's really great when people remember me. Even remember artwork I did. Artwork I had forgotten I did. That's got to be one of the biggest compliments anyone can give you.

I had put that artwork in a folder in the bottom of a metal chest many years ago, but something about that work impressed him enough to remember me. He wasn't even in the same college course I was doing, so I didn't remember him.

I would hope that everyone has had something similar happen to them. I'm sure there are people out there that remember you by the work you did many years ago. I bet you can look back and remember works from other people, and think, "That work was really good". Do you know why some works stick in your mind? They stay with you because those works spoke to you. You were receptive to the subject because of the way you are.

The things you're happy to remember, are the things you're happy to experience. I would say most people are remembered for their originality. The things that surprised their audience. The thinks that changed the way we look at the world. The things that were truly creative. What do your want to be remembered for?

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

I wonder how many adults suffer from a lack of creative self expression?

I can guess that at some point in most people's lives they suffer from a lack of creative expression or self expression.

Like any condition, there are obvious symptoms: Job dissatisfaction, restlessness, lack of enthusiasm or motivation, indecisiveness, prone to imitate well known people or maybe having a mid-life crisis.

Any one of these symptoms can be contributed to other things but together they point to an internal battle.

A battle between their personality & dreams, against their career direction & other external factors.

I'm no Psychologist but there are things that makes every unique heart sing & things that don't.

Without a way to express yourself in a positive way, you can be suffering from a kind of emotional malnutrition. So feed your soul. Find the form of expression that suits you. You probably remember what that was.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

I remind my kids, they have talents. I call them 'My little wonders'.

I'm always looking for clues on what my kids might be good at. They are so different from each other, but they have some definite personality traits that lead them in a general direction.

I can guess what each of them will be good at, but I can't predict what that will be. What I do know is, they will be brilliant at something. Maybe in a field that hasn't been invented yet, but like everyone else, they are Little Wonders. Like everyone else, they need to be reminded that they are wonderful at something, even if they haven't tried it yet.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

I remember the art supplies I got 1st day of school. It was like Christmas. (Other kids were crying).

Do you remember your first day at school. I do.

But first, before I started school, my dad made sure I always had I good supply of butchers paper and crayons to keep me occupied. (I guess is was a good baby sitter for me).

So on my first day of school, every student got a pile of books (blank paper!!!) and stationary (art stuff!!!).

I remember sitting at my desk looking at this big pile of stuff in front of me. I thought it was pretty close to Christmas.

I couldn't understand why some of the other kids were crying. I thought school was a place to draw with other kids. Of course I was in for a rude shock but part of me always assumed that school was still a place to draw with other kids. And that didn't change in High school either.

We are all shaped by our earliest impressions. Even if they were technically wrong. We all have a first love; that time when we first drew something or made something we were happy with. What was it for you? Was it the first time you stood in front of an easel? Or the first time you walked into an art class? Or the first time you made music?

We all had a moment like that. We love to do certain types of work because it was more like play to us.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

I had two escapes as a kid: TV & Drawing. One was an inlet. The other, an outlet

The reasons I needed to escape is another story, but I had unknowingly developed these two coping mechanisms early in life. Like most kids, I was naturally curious about the world around me. Television seemed to have everything a young hungry mind could want. I could go almost anywhere (else) just by changing the channel.

I was so hungry for the outside world that I would often get up very early and watch the test pattern until the morning programs started. Then I'd watch cartoons & re-runs until it was time to get myself to school.

My other great escape was drawing, and making things. What I was really doing was using my imagination with a pencil & paper. Like TV, I could immerse myself in it for hours at a time.

I would literally zone out so much that I could hear people talking to me. I was in total creative flow.

We all need to experience these times, being totally absorbed in something creative, artistic or something we enjoy learning or doing better. Too many people grow up with no worthy escape. They have no escape plan. Everyone needs to know what their escape from their normal responsibilities is.

Everyone has a personality & desire to work at something they love. Even if they don't yet know what that is.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

I can feel like a care free child any time I like. I just draw.

Drawing must be one of the first things I child creates that is preserved.

So of my earliest memories is of me drawing. I loved drawing. I drew even when I wasn't ment to.

I drew on everything. I don't remember drawing on the walls but I was probably told off for it a few times.

The thing I love about drawing is it's the way I think. It certainly helps me to think better. I think in pictures. I love the fact that a drawing becomes a hard copy of my imagination. I can look as it decades later and still get the same feelings I got when I first drew it.

It still has a lot of advantages over any electronic form used to record ideas. It quick, precise, cheap and doesn't need recharging. But what it helps you to do is still amazing, and how easier it is to communicate your ideas as well.

I believe everyone can have a relationship with their chosen medium like this. Be it song writing, playing a musical instrument, photography, film making, wood work or electronics. It needs to be the way you enjoy expressing yourself. It need to say something to you and about you. You need to see the beauty in it. You need to enjoy the process. It need to be like play.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

Creativity, Play & Love seem to be facets of the same thing.

Creativity. Play. Love. All these words are verbs. Action words.

They're not feelings. They're not labels on separate boxes. They work best when they work together.

Creativity is the love of playing with different combinations.

Play is the love of creating opportunities for your imagination to escape.

Love is creating playful ways to share with others in a practical way.

Creative people love to create new experiences for others. Play works best when it is shared, and Love is the motivation to do many great things.

If you take one of them away, the other two quickly become ineffective.

The desire to love someone comes naturally, but we need to create ways to express that love in new ways and in different circumstances. We need to create the means to provide for who we love. We need to create the atmosphere and the environment for it.

We need to create an environment where we can play with the possibilities of our chosen form of expression.

So go and find work you can love. It will seen like play to you. And show your love through what you create.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com