Blog Archive

Sidewalk Chalk - 2010-06-29

We keep a big box of sidewalk chalk in a cupboard on the patio. Once in a while, visiting children take it out and decorate vast expanses of concrete with curlicues, flowers, letters, numbers, dogs, cats, and people. Admittedly, sometimes we have to ask which figures ARE people because, as grown ups, our eyes don’t always work as well as the average three-year-old’s peepers. But we digress.

More often than not, we are the implementers of the chalk and what we tend to do is write quotes – in LARGE letters – at the street end of the driveway. Recent quotes have included William Carlos Williams, Picasso, and Rumi. There are several reasons we do this:

1. It's charming to pull into one’s driveway and see something delightful or inspiring or thought-provoking.

2. It amuses us to watch passersby stop to scan the latest quote. Considering the amount of “junk-reading” along most routes, a little Shakespeare on a side-street is so unexpected.

3. It demonstrates to the neighborhood’s children that grownups do so know how to play, especially when the quotes are embellished with curlicues and flowers (learned from visiting patio artists).

4. It reminds the neighborhood adults that they, too, are artist-children at heart (and maybe they should get some chalk).

One of the best things about the arts is that they feed the creative-children in all of us. Gallery exhibits, workshops, theatre performances, films, festivals, and concerts are ways to fill our inner well. When that well is topped up, we are better at problem-solving, feel more energetic, and experience a sense of well-being. That's not just us talking, but a number of research studies, which have shown, time after time, that creative endeavors are good for us.

Take a look at our upcoming classes and events and pencil some into your schedule. Bring a friend and nurture each other's muse. Later on, get back to us with how it went.

And should you yield to the urge to embellish your driveway, send photos!