The Miracle of Creativity

Dr. Linda Silverman

We hear a lot in the media about the “drive to achieve” that fuels success in the classroom and in life. This drive propels an individual to strive toward accomplishing admirable goals and reaping prized rewards. The question, “What does it take to be successful?” undergirds popular philosophy of gifted education. And it induces parents to exhort their children to try harder to succeed in school. Is this what giftedness is all about? The potential for success? I don’t think so.

I think what drives the gifted child or adult is the need to create. Creativity is a powerful, mysterious force. It has no curriculum. It is its own reward. It permeates every aspect of existence. The need to create can be seen in the single-mindedness of the toddler who spends hours with tape, cardboard and imagination. In the teacher who stays until dark to construct exciting bulletin boards. In the homemaker who invents new dishes or a beautiful, comfortable home. In the endless ideas that come—sometimes in the middle of the night—all begging for our attention, stretching the limits of time.

We are creators. Every day we design our lives. We choose to survive major illnesses, to overcome obstacles, to do our own part in making this a better world. We seek meaningful lives, and we desire that our children do the same. Most of our GDC parents want their child to be happy—now and in the future. They don’t say, “Tell us how to make our child successful.” I believe happiness comes from following our drive to create.

I believe in miracles. I am grateful for the miracle of life itself. I am deeply grateful that I can still create. I believe that I can make a difference by sending energy to peace, to healing all the precious people I know who are in physical or emotional pain, to renewal for all whose lives have been touched by disasters. Please share with us the miracles in your own life.