Battle for Creativity
 

Im a creative person, drawing in sketchbooks and coming up with stories, but im getting frustrated over the constraints that school has over my creativity. Im tired of the limitations studying has over the mind, that school demands us to be uniform, and does not encourage individuality. Is it me, im becoming really frustrated, i want to learn and i want to do what i want to, to tell stories, express myself and learn from my ideas. Its all becoming too much, im beginning to stuggle to find a balance.

I know how you feel, lately ive been trying to get into my music more, but every time I start too I remember I have a test coming up that I need to study for or a part of my book I am supposed to read.

Now days its all about getting good grades and picking a safe major that will get you good money after school. No longer is it about doing something you love. You are definitely not alone.

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I agree that schools kill creativity, imagination, and independent thought. You must fight against it. Several of us on this forum are creative in some way. I need to get back to writing my book but as usual the normal everyday things get in the way: work, school, etc. What you must do is manage your time. You must set aside time to write, to draw, to play or write music. I know it is difficult.

In the case with fine art as it is with anything creative, it takes practice and a good teacher to help you. In school that is difficult. I would advise you to learn all that you can but know that you will not learn it from school The knowledge that I have of history and literature I received from reading on my own. I didn't learn much in school. They didn't teach me how to read Middle English (at least to the point where I can mentally translate) while reading Chaucer. I picked it up by reading them myself.

Learn all you can. Study the great masters of art from different time periods (Renaissance, Romantic, Impressionist, Cubist, etc). Examine their techniques. By doing this, you can learn what they did and then you can move on. Develop your own style.

All of us must start somewhere. Its best to learn from the true masters so that you can learn the art right. The same is true with music. Learn different genres, different techniques. It helps with composition and with mastering an instrument. Practice is the key of course.

I hope this helps.

I'm really not that creative, but I certainly know what people mean about schools and independent thought. I guess it's similar for creativity. After all, what are schools other than a way to turn people into drones of society, to work some boring 9 to 5 job for the rest of their lives? :(

Yes school does limit creativity a ton. I've struggled with the same ideas. What I've learned though, is that the great people on earth, the people who really make an impact or do something great, are people who didn't follow everything else. Like the movie said, don't be afraid to be wrong. Personally, I'd rather read a book that's "wrong". It would be way more intersting than any "right" book. All in all, don't let the man get you down, and do your own thing.

We live in a new age of slavery. Bound by financial needs, most of us are put on the school-work-die path, and most of us cannot dedicate our lives to what we truly love to do as long as we can't profit from doing them.
However, depression only makes things worse. If you can't make a living doing what you like, you can either die trying or learn to see the fun side of boring things, however ridiculous this sounds.

My school requires a uniform as well, but I've gotten around it sort of. I sometimes wear red fingerless biking gloves to school and more often my 5finger shoes. They are out of uniform, but I know which teachers to avoid. Also I once got a spray tattoo (they last for a couple of days then start to fade if you don't wash them off with something, I can't remember what) of this (picture below) on my arm. Yes you may recognize it. I took some heat for that, but I don't care.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...w1/tattoo1.jpg

The only outlets for some creativity is english, music and art..

Creative writing saved my soul when I was in high school..
Also try history..you need a bit of imagination for that too..

School teaches you to rely on solid facts..once you break out of school, get some higher education..It changes that slightly

I want to correct something, my school does encourage academic and artistic creativity, but when it comes to uniforms they are rather strict. There is some practicality, it keeps people from dressing inappropriately and saves girls time (I'm quoting someone, although I can't really imagine how this helps). I also it impresses prospective parents (I go to a private school).

Hmm yeah, I know what you mean...
I used to dye my hair different colours every couple of months...
That was my creativity..
As well as drawing in my book during class :)

Yes, the education system abosultely does stifle creativity. I took art in school and while I loved the practical side of it, there was always quotas to be fulfilled, boxes to tick in order to get the grades. The system was very tight indeed, to the point where you could not create the piece of work you wanted to because it did not fit the perimeters the teacher had set. I hated this.

Even on the art course i'm on now, it's all briefs and requirements, they give you the illusion that you are free to take projects wherver you want and I agree it is still certainly less restrictive than the school system was but it's still fundamentally there.

As for being an individual, i'm glad I got out of school when I did. The 'shirt and tie' mentality was driving me nuts. At least in college you can wear what you want...

You know, I'd be writing, drawing and reading all day long if I had time to do it; and would also pick archery or some cool hobby.

But schools force you to multitask or leave the fun instead. They try to put inside your head a bunch of things that you might never use the rest of your lifetime (you can ask an adult who Pliny the Younger was, the Nervan-Antonine dinasty, or what happened July the 14th of 1789 and they'll have no idea unless they use Wikipedia).

Culture is good, but you'd rather love it instead of being forced to memorize it. The educative system kills the will to know, investigate by yourself and create.

I was bored with the Renaissance until I found an old Art History collection. Since then I have an often look to the Da Vinci's scribbles and I began to draw 20 months ago, mostly thanks to him.

So how if we put an educative system in which you decide what to study since a certain age? Like I'd like to pick this and that book, then those and at the end of the year you can see what I've learned. If I picked Shakespeare, say I have to bring you a little script; or if I picked Newtonian Physics, I'll have to bring a project in which I had applied the knowledge I obtained.

That would rock. Seriously, you decide what you want to do and what you want to learn. And if you don't want to work a thing, well, you know where you go.

beh, even art school kills creativity, so i know what you mean. but if you really want to do things, you can do them, and noone, or school can hold that back. it's only a shame that it takes so much of your time and that you loose the instant moments of creativity. do you have a dummy? maybe you can write ideas down in it so you don't loose the ideas you got during school.