On Giftedness and Creativity- Lost and Found
Sometimes, as teachers and/or parents, in our busy worlds we can forget how much of an influence we may have on those precious souls in our care.. the emergence of a rare talent/creativity in any form, can often be tentative, and fragile and unsure.. often a product of incredible sensitivity. It can be most painfully squashed, and take years if ever, to have the confidence to appear again… often only if met by another who understands..
“Unforgotten”
(by me!!- Leslie S. Graves)
You asked us
to draw a beautiful memory
We each had
Lovely coloured crayons
supplied
a blank paper and eyes
opened wide
We were only four, some of us
were even five
with tumbling fingers
scribbling hard, each
Hoping our picture
would please teacher
Ah..but I was one who considered
before I scribbled
and instead of dreamy shapes
I drew a train
complete with whistles, coal and flame
on tracks,
It’s engineer waved a cane
and shouted
‘ALL ABOARD’
You were working at
your desk
Did not notice, pick mine
out from the rest
At the end of the day
during circle time
you asked us to identify
and take home our
drawing
Mine came up, next to last
two hands came up
You who failed to see
my hand that worked so
diligently
Gave it not to me
but to another child
And then you wondered
why I cried and
would not love the
Circle left on that
last sheet as if it were my own
I would never draw again
Until many years had flown
Until a kind man
In another school saw a
doodle in a book
With passion
His eyes wide open
His heart sincere and true
Placed a pencil back into
my hand
and said.. welcome home
'Hello World'- Drawing by Leslie S. Graves- 2011
innreach
Hauntingly beautiful. We are all grateful to that ‘kind man’!
Thank you Lisa…. I was grateful to him too… and others who have touched my life..a ‘good teacher’ is never ever forgotten.. however I am conscious that the vision of the train experience has never ever left me.. and is as clear now as when it happened… so …I’m guessing a ‘bad experience (one) never forgotten either.. ;-D
Thanks for sharing your moving story and your beautiful picture.
Good teachers are never forgotten. It breaks my heart to see children lose their inspiration. I’m so happy for you that you got yours back.
Thankyou for commenting Dee… it is nice to hear from folk, especially teachers who understand like yourself!! ;-D… I am glad you liked my sketch too.. ;-D…
That is horrible! I always tell my kids to write their name, or their initial on their work, both to ID it and to OWN it.
Big fat phooey on teachers who dismiss kids’ tears!!!
Wait – you only started drawing again THIS YEAR? Your horse is lovely, and that teacher should be… gr. Now MY emotional OE is getting all charged up on your behalf! >:/
Hi Siggi..
Thanks for your kind words Siggi… the experience was a long long time ago… however, the feelings of horror that the teacher left me with presisted for along time..that she insisted that circle was mine… that she refused to believe the train was mine (or the mark I put on the back of the paper to make sure I could prove it… had been made by me)… got angry cause I cried, and berated my mother because I would not take the circle home and ‘admit’ that it was mine and that I ripped it up .. I kept away from drawing agian until sometime in middle school, but then kept most of my efforts/doodlings to myself… never thought they were anything much really… it was not till much later that I made a few slightly more serious attempts, although really it was only just a few years ago, that by chance an art teacher friend of a friend in a night class, by chance saw something I’d drawn in a book… He encouraged me, gave me a set of ‘real’ drawing pencils and some strategic lessons… I took it from there… it gave me a joy back which I believe had been missing for a very long time…. My guess is that I must have been a very very OE kid…. ;-D…teehee