I Wish I Was Creative #1

I have a very deep appreciation for creativity. As a child, my favorite color was cerulean. I could stare at a painting and then try to recreate it at home. I want to learn more about photography composition and darkroom developing. I loved having endless colors at my disposal, and listening closely for backup arrangements and descants in music. But when it comes to actual creation, I got nothing…


In kindergarten, we each had journals, the newsprint that was half blank and half lined. I'm not sure if those kinds of things are for creative purposes, or more for teachers to assess fine motor skills and language.

Indrė Bankauskaitė - Balloons

One week, we had a special journal assignment. We were supposed to drawn a picture or scene, and create a story to go along with it. Every student would present his or her story and the class would vote on who's was the most memorable. Then, every student would take the details of the winning story and create their own rendition of it.

Guess what I came up with? A balloon.
That's it. I drew a balloon.
I'm sure part of my brainstorming time was used to talk to a fellow classmate, but I was still guilty. I remember staring at the blank page, then later staring at the pink balloon, trying to figure out what story goes with a pink balloon.

Even as my classmates started presenting their story ideas, I still came up with nothing. Not even a good story I could cheat and copy. When it was my turn, I stood up and said, "I drew a balloon, because I like balloons."

The winning story was about a car race. I'm cannot remember the details or the outcome of the race, but  I voted for it out of peer pressure.

So in the end, what happened my version of The Car Race? Nothing.
I got chicken pox that week.