Last night I was reading Cave Baby to Gaspard for the 352nd time.
It’s funny how you can read something many times, walk in a neighbourhood every day or hear a song on repeat, until one day, something super familiar just hits you differently.
That’s what happened to me last night during a drawn out bed time routine.
A simple children’s story turned into a great tale about discovering one’s creativity, the formation of self-doubt and the importance of finding psychological safety to overcome one’s self-doubt.
(Yes, I’m that much of a nerd.) And obviously I couldn’t wait to share my epiphany with you.
If you’re not familiar with Cave Baby, it is a children’s book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Emily Gravett.
The story line is pretty simple, and really deep at the same time like kids’ books often are. This is how it starts:
“Cave baby lives in a cave with his mom who’s good at painting and his dad who’s very brave.”
(for the sake of brevity I will overlook the heteronormative gender roles reference here 🙄.)
So our hero, Cave baby, is bored because it’s not 2024 and cave mom doesn’t feel obliged to come up with a million Pinterest worthy, Montessori inspired activities to keep their offsprings entertained and intellectually stimulated to make sure they have a shot at an Ivy League education.
No, Cave mom is an artist, engrossed in her ornamenting the walls of the family cave while Cave baby is left to entertain himself because she values her solo creative time and doesn’t seem to show any mom guilt. I’m here for that.
This is a reminder, dear reader, that mom guilt was invented much more recently (#artistmothersunite ✊🏼)
What happens next?
Back to our story. Cave baby finds a brush and pot and starts adding his own additions to the maternal mural.
So, by simply allowing Cave baby to be bored and observe his environment, he is inspired to tend to his own creative urges.
(Perhaps a reminder to have a bit more non-scheduled, day dreaming time in our days?)
This is where the story takes a turn.
Mom and Dad are appalled to discover Cave baby’s unsolicited creative contribution. Not only do they erase his budding efforts, but they turn to threats, warning him that if he doesn’t abandon his creative endeavours, he’ll be thrown to a big brown bear, playing on the child’s innate fear of abandonment and death.
Nice one, mom and dad.
This, my friend, is exactly how self-doubt is created: an authority figure criticising our early creative efforts and threatening that our worst fears will come true if we follow that path.
Later that night, the traumatised baby (probably still wondering what exactly he did wrong) feels restless in bed.
I mean, wouldn’t you?
That’s when he is taken on a hero’s journey of sorts in the middle of the night, amongst various creatures in the wilderness, not understanding what is happening or where he is going, trying to make sense of the process and worrying more and more that his worst fear of being taken to the big brown bear might come true.
That of course reminded me of the messy middle of the creative process, when nothing makes sense anymore, we want to abandon our efforts and get back to safety.
Sounds familiar?
In the end, Cave baby finds a safe place to create – his own dreams: A family of wooly mammoths commission his art for their own cave and marvel at the very thing his parents criticised.
In short: After facing his fears and taking courageous baby steps (pun intended), Cave baby found the psychological safety and self-belief needed to pursue his creative dreams in spite of the doubt that was instilled in him. He also realises that the big brown bear he was so afraid of is still here, but is neither as big or scary as he initially thought (because it never is).
So there you have it. A simple children’s book illustrating the artist’s journey most of us go through, and how we can learn to courageously face our fears and befriend our self-doubt so that we can access greater creative expression.
Either that or I read way too much into my kids’ books 😂
So what can YOU learn from Cave Baby?
If this little story time spoke to you, you may want to consider these questions for yourself:
- What did you learn about being an artist from your family of origin?
- Who were the people who planted doubt along the way when you expressed your creative urges?
- Who were the people who championed your creative expression?Where is a safe space for you to explore your creativity?
- What would you create if nobody was watching?
And if you feel like sharing, hit reply! Know that you are never alone on this journey.
Much love and creativity, always.
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