Sometimes, great wisdom resides within the pages of a picture book. The Dot, now more than 15 years old, is one of those humble children’s books that is really for adults.

It begins in dissatisfaction—a place that’s all too familiar to most of us. A child, Vashti, is sitting after art class, dejectedly staring at a blank sheet of paper. When she proclaims to the teacher, “I just can’t draw,” the teacher kindly encourages her, “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.”

Vashti grabs her marker and makes an angry jab at the paper, resulting in a single dot in the middle of the page. Her teacher says softly, “Now sign it.”

When Vashti returns to art class the next week, she is surprised to see the dot—her dot—framed and hanging above the teacher’s desk. Not just any frame, but a GOLD frame!

This opens a world of possibilities, and Vashti begins experimenting with her watercolors to make all sorts of dots: large, small, colorful, plain, many, and few. She even discovers using negative space.

The book ends with another child admiring Vashti’s work, wishing he could draw like she does. He says he can’t even draw a straight line, so she says, “Show me.” When he hands her back the paper with a squiggly line, she looks at it and thoughtfully says, “Now sign it.”

I love this book because it’s about empowerment. The teacher knows what Vashti doesn’t yet know: that Vashti, like all of us, has incredible potential within her, and that if she can just ignore the judging voice in her head, she can do amazing things. She teaches Vashti a life lesson by doing rather than talking about it. The teacher’s act of framing that dot speaks volumes. When Vashti sees her own dot hanging in a fancy frame, it reframes her perception of herself.

Then the teacher does another amazing thing: she gets out of the way and lets Vashti experiment with her own style. In fact, we don’t hear from the teacher—at least, not directly—again. She allows Vashti space to discover for herself that yellow and blue blend to make green. It is Vashti who figures out that if she can make little dots, she can make big ones, too.

And Reynolds, the author, knows that the story isn’t complete until Vashti is able to turn to another child and empower him, too. The teacher, though out of sight, is still present; now Vashti has internalized the voice of empowerment and uses it to encourage others.

So it goes with empowerment. Once we step into the fullness of Self and embrace our own glorious abilities—once we proclaim, “I am capable; I can create,”—we influence others to do the same. And this world needs ALL of us to unlock our creative potential!

If you had a brilliant teacher, parent, or other adult in your life who encouraged your creative efforts, then perhaps you are aware that you don’t need anyone else’s permission to make your stuff. Or perhaps you’ve forgotten that you already have everything you need, so now it’s time to claim what is rightfully yours.

Subscribers and members to DoYouMind.life have access to download and print a permission form to grant themselves authority to play, create, and call themselves Artists. It’s a visual tool to help us remember what we may have buried under a narrative of negativity: that we are, at our very core, creative and amazing, and that the world is a better place when we share that creativity. If you aren’t a member or subscriber yet, learn more about the DoYouMind Community here.

Until next time,