Tag: eccentric

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church cartoons

His Thoughts Are Not Our Thoughts

Close up of Spear Cartoon 4180: His thoughts are not our thoughts.

One of the factors I love about creativity is how it brings out the many unique perspectives in the world. I thought about that and Isaiah 55:8-9 when I drew this His thoughts are not our thoughts cartoon.

His thoughts are not our thoughts cartoon. Man says, "His thoughts are not our thoughts. Then again, your ideas are pretty unique too."
Published in the May 2022 CHOGNews

I like eccentric, non-conforming characters. When I was in art school, I admired those students with the courage to be unique. At least I thought they were unique. It turns out they got their cues from others too. It just wasn’t the characters or culture I was used to in the Midwest.

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Categories
creativity

Can You Stay Stupid?

Sketch of a man with a buffalo hat, Hawaiian shirt and striped pants

Over at Michael Hyatt’s blog, he gave a quote from a book entitled Do the Work. Within the quote, this statement stuck out to me:

Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her enterprise is going to be—and cocky enough to believe she can pull it off anyway.

I have to admit, I’m not ignorant, or arrogant enough. And I’m willing to bet you aren’t either. If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time gathering information, reading blogs, and pondering what is the best way to tackle a challenge. If you’re like me, you can get bogged down in the minutia of information.

That’s one reason I love working with children. They can help me find my giddy, stupid self. When you’re around kids, do these things to get your daring, stupid self back:

  • Before you tell a child it can’t be done, ask yourself, “Why not?” Is it really that big of a deal? Sure, there are safety concerns you have to watch. Never allow a child to put themselves in danger, but there are so many ideas kids have that aren’t going to harm them or others. Take a chance! Get messy! Have some fun!
  • Allow yourself to be silly. Wear that flamboyant hat. Sing a silly song. Laugh even if you heard that joke when you were seven. It’s still funny!
  • Encourage a child no matter how outlandish their goals me be. Maybe they will be president some day. Perhaps you’re looking at the next astronaut to Mars. Encourage dreams. And dream a little yourself.

Working with kids is a great way to keep your innocent, creative self from thinking small. Encourage their dreams and you may find you can get “stupid” and work on your own.