Dear friend,
You know those movies that people call Christmas movies, but are technically not?
One of my favorite movies within that group is Rise of the Guardians, which is technically an Easter movie. The sibling rivalry between Jack Frost and Bunnymund (Easter Bunny with an Aussie accent) is one of the best things about the movie.
Anyway, there is a scene in Rise of the Guardians, when the Guardians gather in North’s workshop, North (Santa Clause with a Russian accent) asks Jack what his center is.
North explains by showing Jack a nesting doll. Each doll has a painted face that represents one of North’s character traits. The last doll has wide, sparkly eyes. He explains that at his very center, the way North sees the world is with the wonder of a child. (You can watch the scene here.)
“Eyes that see the wonder in everything.”
I love that line.
North is a creative person. He invents all the toys that are going to be made at the North Pole, and he looks at everything in the world with eyes of wonder.
Wonder is a key part of living creatively.
You have to be curious about everything. You have to see beauty in unconventional places.
That’s how you find inspiration in your everyday life.
Look at the everyday things, the mundane things.
Turn them sideways.
Look at them upside down or inside out.
That pair of wacky socks (that you can’t wear anymore because they have holes in the toes) can become a fun little stuffed animal.
Write a story about what it would look like if gravity were reversed and we had to (as Olaf said) “hang from the Earth like bats”.
What would it look like if you made up a dance, and then found music to match?
Inspiration doesn’t always have to come from crazy places.
Sometimes it comes from the mundane, and you just have to look at it with eyes full of wonder.
Sincerely,
R. J. Catlin
