fostering creativity

A quick personal note today. Ever since they have been physically able, we have let our daughters dress themselves. I love watching them get ready in the mornings because it is an extension of play and develops their creativity. I've been keeping up with a lot of the fashion week coverage, watching the runway photos and so on, and some of the combinations they come up with rival anything I see in Paris or New York.

When I look at fashion street blogs, I often think to myself, "that person's parents let them dress themselves as a kid". My wife sometimes recoils at the color combinations, but to me it seems they are exploring an endless universe; that is what color is for me. I think it is so important to let children play, and part of that play includes playing with identity and personal style. Soon the social pressures of school will begin to shape what they wear, but hopefully they will have built a great sense of their own style by then and can weather trend and conformity.

They seem naturally gifted with an ability to create dynamic collisions of texture and pattern that I find tremendously exciting. (I mean, sparkly red slippers pretty much go with everything, right?) I know some parents view their children as extension of themselves, or at least comments on themselves, but I've always fostered autonomy in my children. Partially this is because they are twins, I suppose. Partially it is because I believe that a clear sense of personal autonomy and healthy self-love are the only paths to successful relationships later in life.

I'm fighting a cold and lost this week of studio work, and I'm traveling next week so I long to get back in there and get some closure. Things look promising for the new year and I look forward to where the work takes me.