Albert Einstein wrote, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

I seems to me that this state of affairs has only gotten more severe in the decades since Enstein made this comment.  We focus on test scores, teaching little children to learn facts in math and skills in reading as preschoolers.  Little boys in particular and usually not ready to take on reading until much older.  If forced and shamed into this kind of learning before they are ready, these kids can easily end up having self esteem issues just because our one size fits all system does not fit them.  

Small children who are surrounded with a rich environment and the encouragement to invent their own activities, are far more likely to develop their natural intuitive minds.  Nurturing that sacred gift is one of the ways http://www.global-dressup.com supports creativity in children. 

During the holiday season of 2000 my two sons and I decided  go to a Spanish language school in the highlands of Guatemala.  We choose PopWuj, a cooperative school in Xela that provided one on one classes five days a week as well as opportunities to participate in their community development projects.  While there we played with kids from a rural day care center, build sanitary toilets, and helped throw a Christmas party for a hundred or so local Mayan children who went to school with scholarships from PopWuj.  The school also arranged to provide new shoes for all the kids at the day care center.  

The day after the party my teacher tapped her finger on the photo of one of the students and commented that this girl, Juanita, was the smartest student they had ever had.  She felt sad that Juanita would not be going on to study math and physics at the university because her family could not afford to send her.  The cost was a hundred dollars a month.

After thinking about it for an hour or so I decided that I could find a way to provide the thousand dollars a year that was needed.  Since I did not have that much to spare while keeping my own kids in college I decided to have a sale at home of all the amazingly beautiful things that are made by the crafts people of Guatemala.  My almost daughter Jessa and I returned to Guatemala a few months later with our suitcases now filled with shoes and sweaters that I now knew were needed for all the PopWuj kids. Tucked in as well was a new computer my  friend Stuart had purchased for Juanita. It was a treat to visit her family.

We then set off on a buying trip through the highlands, purchasing directly from craftspeople and cooperatives.  When we hit the airline weight limits we returned to Northern California  and had a giant sale.  We succeeded in sending Juanita to school for that year and had a little left over for a few toys for the day care kids.

I continued to do a buying trip for the next four years.  I went to Bolivia, Peru, India, Nepal, and Hong Kong.   Interacting with craftspeople in all of these places was deeply satisfying.  The experience certainly was the beginning spark for this global dress up project.

 In the mid sixties I completed a masters program in art and art history at the University of Colorado.  After a few months of drifting about I found a book listing universities with art departments all over the world.  I began writing to schools in Asia explaining that I had studied in India and would like to return to that part of the world as an art professor.  By offering to provide my own transportation and work as local wages I made my proposal appealing to several universities.   I  chose Philippine Women's University in Manila.  It was a great decision for me.  Classes were in English, the students talented, and the faculty friendly.  I was given a studio as well.  It was a fabulous place to be a young artist. Most of my evenings were spent in a coffee house that attracted both Filipino and expat artists, writers, anthropologists and other interesting types. There were art openings with Imelda Marcos in attendance, parties that ended with the sunrise over Manila Bay, and trips to visit ingeniousness people who still lived much as they had for thousands of years.  Alas the Univeristy had a strong Catholic affiliation and I think the amount of partying i did was frowned upon.  I was not invited to stay a second year.I had an exhibition of paintings in a lovely gallery in Manila, making enough money to either return to the US or move on.

 I choose to move to Thailand.  Luckily I met some artists hanging a show in Bangkok. After showing them slides of my work one of them explained that he was leaving on a study grant to the US and needed someone to take over his classes in NE Thailand.  Off we went to meet the dean of NE Technical Institute in Korat.  I taught there for almost two years.  That time focused on learning about Thai art and architecture, visiting the night markets, and getting more deeply involved in making art.  When it was time to move on I had another exhibition, this time at the American Embasy in Bangkok.  With the proceeds I took off to explore.  The time was 1969, just at the very height of a massive international traveler scene.  What a fabulous time to be in my twenties and on the road.

I rode a bicycle around Ankor Wat, a motor cycle around Bali, and assorted boats, trains, and trucks in India, Nepal, and Burma.   Kathmandu and Goa were at the places to be.  In many ways these months of traveling were a reintroduction to the West. I was getting to know my own generation after three years spent in very different cultures.  This was a time before travel guide books.  Most young people on the road had traveled overland from Europe through the Middle East and Afghanistan, up over the Kyber Pass.  In order to proceed we  shared remarkably specific information on cheap hotels, travel arrangements, and places to experience.  If I had to pick a time in my life when I truly had an extended and adventurous good time, this would have to be at the top of the list.