{"id":3152,"date":"2010-02-01T01:10:41","date_gmt":"2010-02-01T06:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=3211"},"modified":"2010-01-22T17:55:44","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T22:55:44","slug":"pagan-parenting-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/02\/01\/pagan-parenting-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Parenting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Family Values: Creativity<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A family value that is high on my priority list is creativity.\u00a0 It is not a traditional family value but many would argue that a pagan family is not traditional in the first place, so in my opinion it fits. <\/span><\/p>\n

Creativity is fundamental to humanity as a whole, without it we would not have made the discoveries and advances that we have as a culture.\u00a0 Pagans honour the sacredness of creation, the earth in her splendour creates on a scale that is baffling.\u00a0 Volcanic eruptions spew out what will become new ground; dead trees in the forest shelter the sprouts of new seedlings that will take their place and stand tall one day.\u00a0\u00a0 Creation cycles throughout the seasons moving from birth to death and back again. \u00a0 In terms of culture Pagans are not only called on to observe or revere creativity but also to manifest it.\u00a0 Theatre, music, literature, visual art, clothing design….you would be hard pressed to find a coven or Pagan festival that does not honour the creative in some fashion.\u00a0\u00a0 Even those who protest that they are not artistic use creativity to manoeuvre through life.\u00a0\u00a0 Throwing a meal together from leftovers in the fridge, coming up with a solution to an issue at work, adding an essential oil to your cleaning water,\u00a0 all come from a sense of creating something and all come from a spark within.\u00a0 That spark needs to be nurtured and respected by yourself for yourself but also for your children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Creativity and Kids <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Children are born with their creative spark unhampered.\u00a0 They are full of possibility and freshness.\u00a0 All is new to them and so every new situation or thing calls on them to be creative in their approach.\u00a0 Is this ball for chewing, squeezing or throwing?\u00a0 Maybe it is for all of those things, I\u2019ll have to try it.\u00a0 Witnessing these moments is a joy to many parents as long as these explorations are not dangerous, which of course they often are.\u00a0 There is a fine line that parents have to walk between keeping situations safe and not butting in.\u00a0 Kids use their imaginations at a record pace and need to be nurtured in this respect.\u00a0 For many adults who feel cut off from their creative spark the source of that disconnect can be found sometime in their childhood when an adult decided to belittle or control their inborn desire to create.\u00a0 Part of raising a well-rounded child is to allow him or her to be the leader in play whenever possible.\u00a0 If they colour outside the lines or mix the blue and yellow paint so be it.\u00a0 This is a time for play, not perfection.\u00a0\u00a0 If the princess wants to be driving a dump truck or the cowboy wants to have a tea party who are we to hamper that desire?\u00a0 It is all part of the art of discovery and a manifestation of the soul\u2019s desire to move through ideas in freedom.\u00a0 All too soon time and age will make play more realistic and force kids to \u201cgrow up.\u201d \u00a0 Allowing them to explore in childhood will help them to keep their creativity as a tool and comfort as they age. <\/span><\/p>\n

Creativity and Parents<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Out of all of the skills that I have had to grab so far in my two years of parenting creativity has been the biggest help.\u00a0 If you are lucky enough to have two heads working creatively rather than one it can be an even more helpful asset.\u00a0 At three o\u2019clock in the morning when a crying baby just cannot be comforted in the dozen ways you\u2019ve got in your arsenal a eureka moment can hit you and you figure it out, for now.\u00a0 Parents are creative by necessity.\u00a0 Let\u2019s make a funny face rather than stick our finger in the electrical socket, let\u2019s have some carrots instead of eating the Play doh, let\u2019s make up a superhero rather than emulate the one on TV. who just jumped through a window.\u00a0 If you have any desire to parent from a place of love and compassion rather than one of fear and dominion then creativity is in your corner.\u00a0 Sleep deprivation and stress can have a negative effect on our ability to tap into that spark, so we must try and remember to charge our batteries now and then.\u00a0 The clich\u00e9d idea of taking some \u201cme time\u201d is great advice but is not very practical for most parents.\u00a0 I can count on one hand the \u201cme time\u201d I\u2019ve had in two years, but I try and take small snippets of time to dream, read, listen to some music or connect with nature.\u00a0 My connection to the earth is a constant recharge for me.\u00a0 Seeing flower sprouts in the spring or the discarded shell of a bird is a great reminder that nature is in constant change and it fills me with hope.\u00a0 As Pagans we are privileged to have a tradition of creative people who have come before not only creating the traditions or rituals that we may practice today but also raising children in a new way of thinking.\u00a0 A way that honours the ground we walk on, hears the wind coming off the sea, tastes the water of life and marvels at the hypnotic power of fire. <\/span><\/p>\n

The spark of creation is fragile and yet so powerful.\u00a0 It can abandon us at times when we need it, but if we try and keep ourselves open to its voice and mindful of when it is manifesting in our children and ourselves it can be an infinite source of renewal and connection for our family.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family Values: Creativity A family value that is high on my priority list is creativity.\u00a0 It is not a traditional family value but many would argue that a pagan family is not traditional in the first place, so in my opinion it fits. Creativity is fundamental to humanity as a whole, without it we would not have made the discoveries and advances that we have as a culture.\u00a0 Pagans honour the sacredness of creation, the earth in her splendour creates on a scale that is baffling.\u00a0 Volcanic eruptions spew out what will become new ground; dead trees in the forest shelter the sprouts of new seedlings that will take their place and stand tall one day.\u00a0\u00a0 Creation cycles throughout the seasons moving from birth to death and back again. \u00a0 In terms of culture Pagans are not only called on to observe or revere creativity but also to manifest it.\u00a0 Theatre, music, literature, visual art, clothing design….you would be hard pressed to find a coven or Pagan festival that does not honour the creative in some fashion.\u00a0\u00a0 Even those who protest that they are not artistic use creativity to manoeuvre through life.\u00a0\u00a0 Throwing a meal together from leftovers in the fridge, coming up with a solution to an issue at work, adding an essential oil to your cleaning water,\u00a0 all come from a sense of creating something and all come from a spark within.\u00a0 That spark needs to be nurtured and respected by yourself for yourself but also for your children. Creativity and Kids Children are born with their creative spark unhampered.\u00a0 They are full of possibility and freshness.\u00a0 All is new to them and so every new situation or thing calls on them to be creative in their approach.\u00a0 Is this ball for chewing, squeezing or throwing?\u00a0 Maybe it is for all of those things, I\u2019ll have to try it.\u00a0 Witnessing these moments is a joy to many parents as long as these explorations are not dangerous, which of course they often are.\u00a0 There is a fine line that parents have to walk between keeping situations safe and not butting in.\u00a0 Kids use their imaginations at a record pace and need to be nurtured in this respect.\u00a0 For many adults who feel cut off from their creative spark the source of that disconnect can be found sometime in their childhood when an adult decided to belittle or control their inborn desire to create.\u00a0 Part of raising a well-rounded child is to allow him or her to be the leader in play whenever possible.\u00a0 If they colour outside the lines or mix the blue and yellow paint so be it.\u00a0 This is a time for play, not perfection.\u00a0\u00a0 If the princess wants to be driving a dump truck or the cowboy wants to have a tea party who are we to hamper that desire?\u00a0 It is all part of the art of discovery and a manifestation of the soul\u2019s desire to move through ideas in freedom.\u00a0 All too soon time and age will make play more realistic and force kids to \u201cgrow up.\u201d \u00a0 Allowing them to explore in childhood will help them to keep their creativity as a tool and comfort as they age. Creativity and Parents Out of all of the skills that I have had to grab so far in my two years of parenting creativity has been the biggest help.\u00a0 If you are lucky enough to have two heads working creatively rather than one it can be an even more helpful asset.\u00a0 At three o\u2019clock in the morning when a crying baby just cannot be comforted in the dozen ways you\u2019ve got in your arsenal a eureka moment can hit you and you figure it out, for now.\u00a0 Parents are creative by necessity.\u00a0 Let\u2019s make a funny face rather than stick our finger in the electrical socket, let\u2019s have some carrots instead of eating the Play doh, let\u2019s make up a superhero rather than emulate the one on TV. who just jumped through a window.\u00a0 If you have any desire to parent from a place of love and compassion rather than one of fear and dominion then creativity is in your corner.\u00a0 Sleep deprivation and stress can have a negative effect on our ability to tap into that spark, so we must try and remember to charge our batteries now and then.\u00a0 The clich\u00e9d idea of taking some \u201cme time\u201d is great advice but is not very practical for most parents.\u00a0 I can count on one hand the \u201cme time\u201d I\u2019ve had in two years, but I try and take small snippets of time to dream, read, listen to some music or connect with nature.\u00a0 My connection to the earth is a constant recharge for me.\u00a0 Seeing flower sprouts in the spring or the discarded shell of a bird is a great reminder that nature is in constant change and it fills me with hope.\u00a0 As Pagans we are privileged to have a tradition of creative people who have come before not only creating the traditions or rituals that we may practice today but also raising children in a new way of thinking.\u00a0 A way that honours the ground we walk on, hears the wind coming off the sea, tastes the water of life and marvels at the hypnotic power of fire. The spark of creation is fragile and yet so powerful.\u00a0 It can abandon us at times when we need it, but if we try and keep ourselves open to its voice and mindful of when it is manifesting in our children and ourselves it can be an infinite source of renewal and connection for our family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3152\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}