I don’t usually go for top ten lists, but this one of personal growth lessons from children just makes me happy.

1. Tomorrow’s Gonna Be a New Day.
2. Sometimes it’s Better to Make Up Your Own Rules
3. Don’t Be Afraid to Show Your Enthusiasm.
4. Feel your emotions fully.
5. Walk On Walls Whenever Your Have The Chance
6. Sometimes you have to do it alone (even if there’s someone right there who could help you).
7. Know When to Ask For Help.
8. Don’t be attached to what you painted yesterday (or 2-seconds ago).
9. Singing Makes Everything Better.
10. Dance like no one’s watching (even when you’ve made sure that everyone is!)

Number five is fantastic. But number eight seems to be the one that I’m dealing with a lot lately … I’ve been going through tons of boxes full of old memories and things that I’ve made and trying to decide whether or not to keep things. I’m really starting to think that the author’s reasoning is right … holding onto old creativity ends up stifling new creativity.

That’s also the reasoning behind one of my biggest gripes with the idea of copyright … I feel like true artists shouldn’t need to rely on a system that glorifies old handiwork and discourages innovation and reinvention. Doesn’t it just turn them into tools?

Posted to webeldotnet on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 11:32 pm EST in Sweet Links (comment feed). If you refer to this post on your blog, please trackback. Thanks!