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Chinese chuang zao to create, to make, to invent,
to begin to create, to make, to build, to prepare, to begin
from French la creativite ability to use one's imagination
and inventive powers to create, for example, literary or
artistic works German schopferisch from schopfer: to scoop, to be
generative, productive, creative Spanish facultad creadora ability to be creative,
original
Apellamando's
Dreams Once upon a time, there was a
simple little road which led to a drab little village, which
was filled with dull little buildings and surrounded by gray
little houses. The streets were quiet, folks worked hard,
and the children minded their parents. Now, just outside this village,
there lived a very special boy named Apellamando. What made
him so special was that whenever he dreamed dreams or
thought thoughts, his dreams and thoughts would appear in
brilliant colors above his head. They would float into the
air in bright beautiful pictures. If Apellamando thought
about a rainbow, a rainbow would sail up from his forehead.
If he thought about a butterfly, a lovely butterfly would
hang lightly over his head. Apellamando managed to keep his
gift a secret, except from his four best friends. His
friends loved to watch Apellamando's dreams float against
the sky. "Dream of sailboats, Apellamando!" they would cry.
"Think of green and yellow caterpillars, Apellamando!" they
would beg. Apellamando was happy to grant his friends wishes
and they would lie on a patch of grass, and watch
Apellamando's colorful dreams in all their glorious colors
decorate the sky. One day, as the friends enjoyed
watching bright yellow canaries, bunches of balloons, orange
and black tigers, and bouquets of flowers drift from
Apellamando's head, it began to rain. As the rain fell, it
seemed to moisten Apellamando's floating visions and they
began to stick to things! The bright yellow canaries
floated over and stuck fast to the door of the bakery. The
bunch of balloons stuck to the walls of the Village Square.
There were all of Apellamando's colorful dreams stuck to the
walls of the gray little houses and the drab little
buildings! The children stood stunned in the street when the
baker stepped out of his shop and cried, "Who painted these
birds on my door?" He spotted the children and yelled, "What
do you think you're doing painting all over our clean little
village?" I'm sorry. I didn't mean for the
dreams to stick. But they do add something quite lovely to
the gray walls, don't you think? said an apologetic
Apellamando. "No, I don't think!" yelled the
baker in reply. "In fact I think you children should be
punished for painting on our property!" "But you don't understand," the
children cried in unison. By this time, many of the
townspeople emerged from the buildings. "How dare the
children do this to our walls! They must explain
themselves!" When the children tried to
explain themselves, the grown-ups became angrier. "No one
can make pictures in his head for all to see. No one can
share their colorful dreams," the grown-ups said. They
decided the children must be lying. The children were sent
home to wait for their punishment. Apellamando hung his head as
they left the village streets and headed for the path
through the woods to their homes. His friends tried to
reassure him, saying it wasn't his fault. Anyway, they like
the buildings so much better with Apellamando's dreams on
them. But Apellamando could not be comforted. "I shall never
have another dream. Not ever," he sighed. "But Apellamando, you can't stop
dreaming! We love your dreams!" his friends
implored. "No. never again," Apellamando
insisted. The children walked forlornly
through the woods as the sun began to set. They were too
unhappy to mind where they were going, and it began to grow
dark before they had reached their homes. Finally, they
realized that night was about to fall and they were
lost. Hungry, tired, and a bit
worried, the children sat down in a clearing. "This is all my fault," said
Apellamando sadly. "I should never have dreamed those
dreams." "But your dreams are lovely, "
said one friend. "Yes, and so colorful," said
another. "We loved to look at them. They
made us happy," they all agreed. "But they were good for
nothing," Apellamando said dejectedly. "Wait a minute," said one of the
children, "they would be really good for something now,
Apellamando." "No. My mind's made up. I'll not
dream another dream ever," Apellamando
replied. "But Apellamando, if you could
dream a dream now, it would float up into the air and the
grown-ups would see us and find us." "Yes, please, Apellamando!" the
other chimed in. "I can't!" said
Apellamando. "You must!" cried his
friends. So, reluctantly, Apellamando
began thinking of rainbows and sparrows and apple trees, and
slowly his dreams floated higher and higher until they hung
in the violet sky. The children's parents had begun
to worry, as their children had not arrived home. They had
gathered folks from the village to help look for them. All
at once, someone yelled, "Look!" and pointed to the
beautiful images floating over the woods. In a short while the village
folk found the children and realized they had been wrong
about Apellamando. He really could share his colorful
dreams. And what a gift it was! The village is no longer drab
and gray. Its walls are splashed with color and its people
are happy. There is an old man that the children visit in
the Village Square each day. He tells them wonderful
stories, and every now and then a beautiful, colorful
picture floats up and rests just above his head for everyone
to see.
The greatest creativity is
transforming our own mind from ignorance to wisdom, awaking
all our inner qualities. All that we see and hear and
feel is a product of the mind. We can create a violent,
miserable existence or a loving, happy existence. We are the
producer and director of our own movie. We can be miserable
or we can be happy. The choice is up to us. The Tibetan Buddhism there is a
practice of imagining oneself as an enlightened being, in an
enlightened form with enlightened speech and an enlightened
mind. As one teacher in America put it, "If you're not
enlightened, pretend you're enlightened!" Through creative
imaging, we can embody all enlightened
qualities. Christianity "Create in me a clean heart, O
god, and put a new and right spirit within me." - Bible,
Psalm 51:10
WALT DISNEY (1901-1966)Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised partly in Kansas City and partly on a Midwestern farm, he acquired some basic art instruction from correspondence courses, but dropped out of high school at age 17. He worked as a commercial illustrator, made primitive, animated, advertising cartoons, and tried to start his own business. When that failed in 1923, he moved to Hollywood where his older brother, Ray, helped him resume cartoon production. The invention of such cartoon characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, combined with a creative use of music, sound, and folk tales, made his Disney shorts a worldwide success. He expanded his dream, producing his first feature-length cartoon (Snow White) in 1938 and opening his fantasy theme part (Disneyland) in 1957. |