It’s time for all of us to embrace our unique qualities. To play and enjoy. To design life through creating. As a parent of differently wired and unique children, you are in a prime spot to encourage this creative exploration. But a shift toward creativity and embracing your strengths benefits everyone. Seriously. When you’re in the thick of parenting, the negative demands our attention: What’s not getting done, or not done quite right. (My boys are quick to remind me that it seems like I expect perfection, which surprises me because I feel like I’ve chilled out A LOT. Apparently there is room for improvement. Both theirs and mine!)
How do you focus on the strengths, quirks, and deep interests when there’s so much other stuff to manage?
It starts with having a clear understanding of the difference between our experience and our child’s experience. Teaching kindness in the moment helps too. In practice, that looks a lot like starting over again and again with positive intent.
It also helps to allow children to guide their own creative development.
One way to guide children in exploring their creative spirit is to give them space to do so. Another is to show them your own creative exploration. If they see you valuing your unique perspective, then they’ll be more likely to inherently value theirs.
Parenting opened up a new avenue of inquiry into my own experience as a child. Learning more about giftedness helped things make sense. I wish I’d had that insight earlier, but I don’t know if it would’ve helped. Now my experience and perspective informs how I express myself. And I see that all expressions are valued and valuable. Even though our world tells us there’s one right, expected way to live, that’s a lie. There is no correct way to create or express yourself.
I will still argue that there is a right way to load a dishwasher. Because there is.
Life boils down to creating your own experience. It’s your job to give your children (and yourself) the tools to create and grow into their unique expression. In a sense, it’s an awesome time to be differently wired. We are all wired to create, so they say, but when you’re already an outlier, your strengths stand out more easily. (The trick sometimes is seeing them as strengths!)
Your weirdness and deep interests will save you in the end.
Start there. For you and your children. Keep that part of yourself. That’s what you need. You don’t need to be like everyone else, or parent like everyone else. Create your life as an expression of yourself. No matter what. Explore, learn more, and embrace those parts of yourself that you buried or set aside long ago.
It’s time they came out to play. They need light. Your light. They need you, you need them.
Show your children (and everyone else) who you are, your quirks and strengths, and weirdness. Honor your own so they learn to honor theirs. Your children will live different lives. The world is different, and their creative perspective will help them navigate the future. They need to embrace their unique skills and strengths. Period.
If you want simple steps to build strengths into your life, let’s talk about coaching. You can schedule a free consult HERE.
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