Express Me This

          "Creativity, today, is equally as important as literacy." This is a claim made by Sir Ken Robinson, PhD, a world-renown speaker on the essence of education. I watched a youtube video of a conference at which he spoke where he discussed the importance of creativity in our education systems. Sir Robinson began his speech by pointing out obvious yet uncontested facts about our education system. Such were included: hierarchy of subjects, emphasis on monetary gain, criteria for success, among others. He related to his audience (myself included) by addressing parental and educator influence in the activities and career paths of children. He stated that parents and educators tend to put an emphasis on subjects such as math and science and neglect or even criticize subjects such as art, music, and dance. This is because math and science lead to 'successful' occupations whereas the "arts", as they are known, have a low possibility for leading to a stable and successful occupation. So the arts are squashed beneath the discouragement of educators and parents and rarely find their way into the lives of children in need of creative expression. Sir Robinson said that he believed the world is changing in ways that will require more of the arts and less of the math and science. He encouraged his audience members to creatively express themselves and to pass on that encouragement to their kids and the people around them. I know that I have diminished my love and appreciation for the arts because I wished to conform to the 'social norms of society'. The culture we live in does not favor creative expression in the forms of dance, music, and art, at least not "for everybody". Maybe those 'select few' who are extremely gifted can participate but not everybody... Even harder still is the added stigma that is bestowed upon males who appreciate creative expression in the arts. Well I disagree with our culture and I don't give a crap what it says about creativity. I for one am going all in with who I am when it comes to creative expression, bring on the music...