Thursday, 30 October 2014

Bohemian B’s Beat
Broken Crayons still Colour

If you have ever been within a few meters of any children’s playroom, be it at home, at school or even in a restaurant that offers such facilities, you would have observed (if you do observe that is) the magnitude of broken crayons laying around.  The majority of kids I've had the privilege of interacting with one way or another, don’t have a huge hang-up about colouring with a broken crayon, simply for the reason that it still works.  Whether this crayon is being used to create an artwork masterpiece to be taken home for mommy to put up on the fridge, to bring a colouring-in book’s page to life or normally from our younger budding artists to add a splash of colour along the long drab passageway at home.  Whatever the canvas may be, the point is that the broken crayons work just as well as the shiny new and whole ones. 
   I love taking a moment to just observe little ones and how they interact with each other but more importantly how they see the world and implement their own reasoning.  They demonstrate such simplicity and pure innocence, untainted by the ‘grown-up’ world. 
Once you and I used to demonstrate this absolute simplicity, but then we grew up and proceeded to do what we do best... complicate life as we know it.  And during this complication process, we get knocked down, hurt, broken even and for some unknown reason (probably due to our complex minds) we end up feeling useless, worthless and broken, aka, un-useable. 
   During my grade 8 year of high school (standard 6 in those years), I was forced to attend the mundane home economics class (today I wish I had shown more of an interest back then, but it is also a known fact that pre-adolescents are ‘very clever’), where the teacher attempted to teach us ‘little ladies’ how to be good home creators.  Although cooking and sewing never appealed to me much, there was one class which did grab my attention and made such an impact on me that to this day I can look back with fond memories.  We learnt a beautiful skill in the form of candle making and what was imperative was to impart our own special touch and create something using our own creative imaginations.  The tools needed for this exercise were very basic, a pot, broken candles to melt for wax,  a stick with string attached (to tie and dip the candle in the making in the hot wax melting in the pot), a plain, white candle and you guessed it - broken crayons.  As the wax melted in the pot we added crayons to make coloured wax which we then dipped our plain white candle into to transform it into a one of a kind master creation candle.  What stood out for me then already, was that these ugly looking broken and seemingly useless crayons that was used added the beauty and unique character to a once plain, boring and even lifeless looking candle.
   Broken crayons still colour.  If you feel that life has knocked you around and rendered you relatively (or even completely) broken, never forget that broken crayons can still colour.  Just add glitter and you will still shine!
Inspiration flows where your will go, keep thinking of broken crayons, glitter and all things shiny and maybe, just maybe inspiration will follow.
Glitter greeting (and all things shiny)
Bohemian B



















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