Letting Creativity Loose

When you let your creativity loose, there’s no telling where it can take you.

I recently offered to write with my 7-year-old while she worked on her writing journal. She insisted I use this prompt: "Would you rather be a snake that can detach its tail or a marker that the cap cannot come off of?"

I answered that I would want to be a living being, even if that living being was a snake with a detachable tail. I wrote about the joy of eating (even recently killed rodents), and of growing. The marker is made, does not get to learn, has one purpose, and then it’s gone to the landfill. As a parting thought, I wondered if a plastic-eating snake would ever evolve,

All too often we put up barriers the prevent us from exploring new ideas and limit our experience. Dismissing my daughter’s question would have been such a barrier. Exploring new ideas and seemingly ridiculous questions can lead us to new insights. So…which would you rather be a snake or a marker?