Marney's Musings:
Kai and the Mermaids
Artellagram 7-28-12


Barbe Kobe


Kai has a natural affinity for the ocean. His name, in fact, actually means "ocean" in Hawaiian, and he spent much of the first two years of his life on the Hawaiian beaches.  Here's a snippet of a recent conversation about on the topic.

Kai: We have to go to the ocean during this summer.

Me: Well, I'm not sure if we will get to or not.

Kai: But everyone goes to the ocean.

Me: That's not true - not everyone gets to go to the ocean.

Kai:  Mommy, listen. Do you know what the word "summer" means? 'Sum' means, 'some days it's hot', and 'mer' means 'the sea'…you know, like in the word 'mermaids'. So that means that some days it's hot, and we go to the ocean!

Well, it's pretty hard to argue with that kind of logic…not to mention that kind of etymology! LOL  Now while he may have been lucky to actually get it right, the truth, is it’s only when we take chances and put on our creative thinking caps that we can ever have a chance to hit that special idea or inspiration.

I also realized how we tend to take words for granted. How often do we stop to explore what a word actually means, or even take a cue from this story about Kai and assign our own meaning to it?

If you'd like to play with this idea a bit, you can take a look at the Creativity Tip in this week's Artellagram for a fun ARTsignment that invites you to play with words and definition to uncover solutions to your current challenges.

And if, like Kai, are looking for some summer fun, your inner creative mermaid might be interested in our Annual Summer Splash, with 55% off Artella Memberships until July 31.

Happy Splashing!
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