IYGC 2013- On Celebrating International Year of Giftedness and Creativity (WCGTC)

Photo by Magdzia s under Creative Commons Licence

On Giftedness and Celebrating Giftedness and Creativity in many places…  let us begin…

So…… While the New Year (2013) has already arrived in some places of our great spaceship earth, is about to arrive here, and may still be almost a day away in yet other countries… I think it safe to say that for most, it is an occasion which is eagerly awaited and welcomed… the letting go of what troubled us, and a new opportunity to embrace hope and wonder and possibilities….

It would be unrealistic of me to not to say or acknowledge that many of us are grateful to have made it through another year, through whatever extraordinary stories of strength, joy, pain and fortitude…However, it is also realistic of me to hope that we, individually and as a community, the gifted and talented community, will face this new, upcoming year with renewed hope and joyful enthusiasm, compassion and understanding,especially if things aren’t exactly as were hoped, and the strength to know when we need to let go and find new, unique ways of meeting challenges placed before us.

It kind of reminds me of when I was a child, trying to figure out why a certain kite I had made wouldn’t fly/get off the ground.. the consternation that came with what had to be done to it to make it work, adding a bit of weight here,  lengthening it’s tail, and  then, the joy of letting go, taking the materials and perhaps something more, and redesigning it all together…   I was constantly ‘accused’ of deviating from original instructions when working on a problem and trying to transform it into / allowing it to become something new..   The end products did not always look like conventional kites, however  I can say that surprisingly enough many of them did indeed take to the skys…

Creativity in this life is important, creativity is daring to be different, and in daring to be different we find ourselves capable of being/becoming/creating something unique in this world.  A something, which against all odds, may actually work… teehee…  Creativity can also be found in the most unlikely places, as seen below, and can bring a whole new meaning to recycling or even ‘junk art’… Creativity is.. well…it is “HOPE….”

This year, 2013, is our year of “hope”,   hope as an international community, to celebrate the International  Year of  Giftedness and Creativity. I am asking, in this brand new year we have, this 2013, that we all take a good  look at our individual (gifted awareness) kites.  I know each will be different from the next, child, parent, teacher, advocate, practitioner, researcher  or organisation, association, support group be it local, national or international.  One may be a box kite, or a chinese dragon, or a simple diamond, or a shape as yet unknown, and although they might not all agree with each other, I am positive that each has a very interesting story behind how it was constructed and or kept afloat.  You may have creative ideas and plans that will perfect your kite in the future, redesigns and reconstructions, or the way that you (will) reel in/out your spool as you manage the dips and dives your kite may take.

Very soon we will be asking for you to share some of these stories, as well as information on how you, your organisation or country plan on celebrating giftedness and creativity this year, so that we may help you share this with the rest of the world.  We also hope to have a number of activities during the year as well, which participants can join in. It is hoped that we can all be positive and enter into this with the spirit that within all our different experiences, efforts, samplers and examples – lie a greater good that will add to the richness of our diverse community, learning from each other and further and enhance our abilities to support and advocate, and strengthen the ties that bind us.

I also hope that there will be forgiveness and understanding if things do not go exactly as one planned as that is in essence part of the inherent chaos in creativity, and in knowing this, that we will embrace whatever new trijectories may need to be followed during this time, with joy and wonder.

A fair wind for our communal gifted awareness kite?  Let’s hope so… let’s give it the best chance we’ve got.. together…with all our other kites, of the many shapes and colours,  let us help it rise… with your/our many coloured celebrations of giftedness and creativity… Let us leave conflicts behind and work on becoming more visible in 2013- worldwide… again, for reflection: What will your kite look like this year? How will you shape it? What unique features do you hope it will contain? In what way would you have it add to our Communal Kite?… and when you get there, don’t be afraid to share it with us so we may share it with others too..

The celebration will culminate in the 20th anniversary World Council Conference in Kentucky, where we hope to highlight the shared efforts made by our worldwide community, and which in turn will keep our communal gifted awareness kite flying high, and we hope, that it will be experienced by many.. And, while your thinking on this, please do take a moment to visit the Conference website and have a look at  the wide range of strands on offer, and consider  either attending or contributing as  an individual as a way of  celebrating in 2013.

“Let’s go fly a kite, up where the air is bright, let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring, up through the atmosphere up where the air is clear, Let’s all go… fly a kite……. “!  (from the soundtrack of Mary Poppins-Movie)