Periodic Creativity: Part Five

Periodic Creativity
The fifth Ionic Bond of Creativity - ExpressION

You, you in the blue……
Me?
Yes, you.
Sing a few bars solo.

I was 14 years old and in the chorus of the school musical The Pirates of Penzance. It was the final dress rehearsal, and the musical director stopped the performance and singled me out.
After I sang a few bars, she declared that I couldn't sing. I wasn't able to, and I was forbidden to sing in the musical. I was to mime. No self-expression for me!

Today's creativity Ion is Expression.

Expression is not limited to standing on stage and singing, doing standup, or giving a keynote. In the periodic table of creativity, it is the act of putting anything out into the world.
The yin and yang of expression are trepidation on one hand and connection on the other. Connecting with our audience or our customers balances out our fear and allows us to express ourselves.
When I tell the story of my humiliation in the musical, so many people tell me that they had a similar experience when they were told that they were crap at singing, playing an instrument, writing, drawing or painting, most often around the age of 14 or 15. And like me, those experiences have stayed with them all their lives, resulting in great trepidation about expressing themselves.
And in the long term, they hide that part of themselves away in isolation.

Have you had a similar experience?