When you were growing up do you remember being told "you're the musical one, Johnny is best at maths, Katy is so creative " etc etc.
Parents and teachers, often without meaning to, sometimes categorise people. The amazing thing about that is that it take so many years to realise that this has happened to you! As parents and grandparents my Man and I talk about this quite a bit - in our families we did seem to be allocated talents (or lack of them!) so we're trying to make a conscious effort not to do this to the grandies.
It's so easy to make a casual remark and have them take it on board. I'm a firm believer that most of us can achieve a lot more than we realise and are often held back by other people's well meaning remarks on our abilities .
It always gives me pleasure when someone comes along to a workshop telling me that they can't draw, or weren't the artistic one in their family - then discovers that, actually, they are more than capable of capturing their view of the world with paint.
So,please, next time you're tempted to label someone (or yourself) , maybe just compliment them each time they achieve something without trying to categorise them - I'll try to do the same.
Parents and teachers, often without meaning to, sometimes categorise people. The amazing thing about that is that it take so many years to realise that this has happened to you! As parents and grandparents my Man and I talk about this quite a bit - in our families we did seem to be allocated talents (or lack of them!) so we're trying to make a conscious effort not to do this to the grandies.
It's so easy to make a casual remark and have them take it on board. I'm a firm believer that most of us can achieve a lot more than we realise and are often held back by other people's well meaning remarks on our abilities .
It always gives me pleasure when someone comes along to a workshop telling me that they can't draw, or weren't the artistic one in their family - then discovers that, actually, they are more than capable of capturing their view of the world with paint.
So,please, next time you're tempted to label someone (or yourself) , maybe just compliment them each time they achieve something without trying to categorise them - I'll try to do the same.
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