I like minimalism, and I dislike clutter.
Yet, I had box upon box of paperwork languishing in storage that I knew I would one day have to wade through. Not just tax returns, but tree upon tree of written words. No doubt you have the same, if you are writer. Maybe it is all of your hand-corrected drafts that you can’t throw out in case you need to go back and find that one stroke of genius that you shouldn’t have deleted?! I found some of those, and through gritted teeth, recycled them.
Some of the more interesting writing dates back to my childhood. Unfortunately for me, I have discovered that I was a much more creative and possibly a better writer when I was a tween! It brought to mind Picasso, and his lifetime quest to paint like a child.
I wonder if the clutter that fills our minds as adults pushes out some of the free, creative thought that we had when we were children. Finding the imagination and uninterrupted flow of ideas from the childhood years might be impossible. Science tells us that our brains are not fully developed until we are 25. Does that mean that our childhood wonder is in part a lack of brain connections?
I hope that Picasso shows us that we can reclaim our childhood creativity with the advantage of an adult perspective.