The Brightest Bear (Blog)

[The Wise Turtle]

Originally Posted by billybrads

hallelujah!!! u r quite wise aren't u

If you look at me from a certain viewpoint

From other vantagepoints, I'm definitely not that wise!

-Turtle

[Shaden]

Great story Merlynnie. It makes all the social ostracisation worth it doesn't it. As well as that the feeling of being unique is one of the most freeing things I have ever found. Taking pride in being myself filled me with such a positive and confident attitude.

I think a lot of you can probably relate.

[Steve Pavlina]

Emily was pretty excited when I showed her all the discussion spawned by her artwork.

She made a face like this:

[Trax]

Very cute!

[yann]

I've been reading this blog for a while and I quit coffee and wake up at 6 am every day since then. So I'm not here to troll... but I guess I'll be the white bear and kinda disagree w/ everybody here because I'm thinking it might be beneficial to someone...

Here I go: although it's good that you solved the short term issue by letting her know that it's ok to make a different bear because it's "her" bear, I think you might have missed the real issue there: why was she crying and so afraid to mess up the bear because it was "too hard" in the first place? I believe a 6 year old can't put pressure on herself like that... so the pressure has to come from the parents. Plus, looking at the board picture, I'm perplexed by how little creativity and overall skills are displayed in those drawings. Now, it could be that your daughter is just really not talented at drawing (which is no big deal, everyone is good at different things...) but to me it looks more like her creativity is suppressed... and from what I read from you I'd venture to say that it might be because she's afraid to "fail" and disappoint you.

It is just a feeling that I get so take it for what it is, but I'd say you might want to chill out on the way you "encourage" your kids 'cause I'd say you're most likely too pushy about it.

I'm just disturbed that a 6 year old would keep on drawing the same bear over and over in the first place... that white bear should have come out long ago... and a pink bear, a purple bear, a yellow dot bear... You get the idea.

Just my 2 cents.

ps: thanks for getting me off coffee, it was (literally) painful but totally worth it.

[pkawal]

This is a great post...such a cute parable about creating out of our own unique selves.

Thanks Steve for writing it...
Paula Kawal

[Shaden]

I'm just disturbed that a 6 year old would keep on drawing the same bear over and over in the first place... that white bear should have come out long ago... and a pink bear, a purple bear, a yellow dot bear... You get the idea.

Disturbed?

Is this really what people spend their time worrying about these days?

[Cassie]

To me, Emily's bear resembles a wooly grizzly bear, while the others seem more emaciated

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Shaden

Disturbed?
Is this really what people spend their time worrying about these days?

"Disturbed" was probably an overstatement but it's a good observation.

It doesn't gel with what I would expect a child raised by Steve Pavlina to be like. That's a very disempowering mindset.

IMO, Yann's right - "Why was she freaking out about getting it perfect in the first place?" is the elephant (or bear?) in the room.

[Scorpibear]

This is a beautiful story! It could become a fairy tale!

[Mahapajapati,]

Don't mean to be harsh dude, but since you end your blog with "if a six year old girl can do it..." then you need to reflect upon why your child is crying... A crying child is a red flag.