Boyana's Story: Color Boldly
crayola wax crayons
Creativity-Takes-Courage-Illustration
Dr Who and other plushies created by Boyana.
Most of us would like to think if we were handed a box of crayons we would choose a bold color:
Blizzard Blue.
Banana Mania.
Atomic Tangerine.
Jazzberry Jam.
We would grab our Crayola and create a masterpiece.
This is how we like to view ourselves.
But let me tell you a little secret:
When it comes to revealing a little bit of our inner selves, when it comes time to push the “publish” button, or think outside the box, most of us choose caution over creativity.
We choose the color beige, don’t make waves, and settle for life inside the lines.
We play it safe.
Which is maybe why when I did a Google search on the phrase “Take Courage”, I got the predictable images of fetes of strength and quotes about overcoming fear, but I also got –surprisingly-- this quote from Henri Matisse:
“Creativity takes courage.”
I had never associated creativity with courage.
I asked a young fashion designer, Boyana Babanovski, what she thought about the statement. She had recently created a three-piece outfit for a fashion show: a halter top and double-layered skirt, modeled by friend, Marielle Pocock.
Boyana's outfit, however, was not fashioned from material and thread, but from items normally found in a recycle bin or a landfill. To be eligible for this particular event -- The Trashion Fashion Show at Veteran’s Oasis Park on September 18 -- 75% of the outfit had to be from a recyclable or reused material.
Talk about picking up your Atomic Tangerine and scribbling outside the lines!
At first, Boyana struggled with wanting to stay in the beige paradigm of acceptability.
“Everyone chooses what they wear and that, in a sense, is fashion,” Boyana said. “I had to overcome the thought that said, ‘What makes mine special?’”
“I had to learn to be okay with my hobby, that creating fashion is a way to express myself, not just a superficial love of clothes. It is not simply focusing on appearance, but a decision to not fit into a mold.”
Boyana, who began sewing at age twelve, first started with small handwork projects. She still enjoys doing “scrap work”, as she calls it, or making plushies from fleece, projects she sells to friends.
Creating an outfit from trash had its own unique challenges. She had to revise her original plans of soldering tin cans (the equipment was too expensive) or using paper bags (the paper was too thick for her design). Each setback required her to rethink her design and start over again. When school started in the fall, she struggled with time management.
She began to wonder if she could bring the vision in her head to life, but through a process of trial and error, she persevered.
The hard work paid off. Boyana placed second in the age 13-17 category, competing against outfits made of coffee filters and plastic water bottles.
Do you have a vision inside your head that you want to bring to life? Do you struggle with holding onto courage in regard to creativity? Do you long to toss aside Beige and pick up Laser Lemon?
If so, keep reading:
5 Steps to Bolster your Courageous Creativity
1. Silence the Fear One step At a Time.
Maybe you aren't creating a dress out of a garbage bag, but you have ideas and dreams inside your head waiting to get out. That’s scary business. You have a choice: keep that creative vision tucked away all nice and safe inside yourself, (Hold on tight to that beige crayon) or take a step toward making it a known reality. Take one step today. One step. Reach out for Purple Mountain’s Majesty.
2. Don’t listen to the negative voice in your head (or from other people.)
Everything inside your head tells you to play it safe. Be small. Be the same.
Ignore that voice. Embrace your unique talents and expressions.
3. Dreams require dedication and don’t just happen.
You need to make time on your calendar and do the hard work.
4. Persevere.
The biggest failure is not trying at all and joining the thousands of people who have settled for mediocrity. (Told ya, beige is popular!)
5. The World Needs What You Have To offer.
Believe this with all your heart – what you carry inside you is needed in this world. Your sphere of influence might be small or large, but it will help no one if your talent remains unused and unsung. As an Image Bearer of a creating God, you have something inside you that MUST create.
So be courageously creative. Put your art or your writing or your cooking or whatever out there. Push the “send” button or the “post” key. Sign up for a fashion show made out of garbage! Don’t restrict your creativity to the privacy of your journal or your home.
Say, “Here I am. This is not just what I create, but this is a portion of my very soul”, and join the gutsy people who have chosen to share a bit of themselves with the world, who have flung aside the Safe Beige and have grabbed Outrageous Orange or Radical Red.
Color boldly.