the wonder-room, february 2025

Shelf in a china cabinet I inherited from my grandmother containing all sorts of goodies: a prayer book from her childhood with a gold-edged prayer card from 1909; dolls from my other grandmother; a postcard of my hometown; matchbooks from my honeymoon; and an earthquake-broken ballerina that I can’t bear to throw away.

Dear fellow wonderer,

Welcome to this month’s cabinet of curiosities.¹

Following up on this month’s letter about the loss of creativity in kids’ lives (that cracking you hear is my heart), some related links:

• If you missed reading the 2010 Newsweek cover story I wrote about, “The Creativity Crisis,” by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, I highly recommend it. It’s fascinating and well-written and still relevant–the situation has only worsened in recent years. And the story that starts and ends the piece, about the creative eight-year-old from 1958, has a lot to teach about why creativity matters.
• Did you see the NYT opinion video “Is Creativity Dead?” (That’s a free NYT gift link.) Interesting take on how algorithms undermine creativity and what we can do about it. One tip: add more newsletters and podcasts to your “media diet”–they’re less curated by algorithms!
• This excellent post from Jim Dalrymple II’s Nuclear Meltdown, about pushing back against current elite, intensive parenting norms–which is precisely what we need to do to support creativity for kids. Dalrymple notes a challenge: “intensive parents look like they care more.” Ooh, so true! And here’s the sort of self-interrogation I love: “My kids may seem like feral ragamuffins, the thinking goes, but that’s really because I know more and am smarter than you. Checkmate, helicopter parents.”
• Yet another benefit of creativity for kids: it’s highly connected to confidence. A recent study found that “among 6- to 12-year-old children, 92% believe being creative boosts their confidence.” 92%! If that isn’t a call for adults to listen up, I don’t know what is. Also: “65% of children shared that engaging in a creative activity makes them feel happy and excited to participate.” It’s how they’re wired to learn and they know it.
• There are so many posts on my blog about being humbled as my kids schooled me on the depths and importance of their creativity. You could simply poke around in the child-led learning category. But allow me to direct you to Mr. T’s Periodic Table of Marvel Characters. (Check out the section titled, kids may learn more than you’d imagine on first glance.) Or the time my daughter decided to learn about the history of food in America, and surprised me with how much effort she put into displaying her research. (Apologies for those murky 2010 photos.) Oh, and let’s not forget the time Mr. T’s infographic about The Avengers inspired the Data Artist from The New York Times (!)
• A creative work that inspired me this month: the novel Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt. The sentences, my friends! Boyt’s creativity shimmers line after line. I’m rereading from page one, fine-tipped pens at the ready, noting what she’s doing. And then the story, of a grandmother stepping in to raise her granddaughter, Lily. (Lily! 😉) Boyt captures the wonder of a self-possessed, creative child in a way I’ve rarely seen on the page. “She had such a sense of occasion. Every Saturday morning she came into the bedroom carrying plates of toast and jam and the hem of her nightie. ‘Breakfast’s on, Ru!'” One my favorite reads ever. Prepare to have your heart kneaded like a huge wad of clay in the hands of a kid.
• A little creative side project: I took a month off Instagram and have been thinking a lot about how I do or don’t want to participate in social media these days. Decided to post some thoughts in serialized form. You can find them here in my Substack notes and also on IG (where I’m showing up for now, thought I’m not sure I’ll stay.)

Please add to this Wonder-Room! What’s captured your curiosity lately? Anything goes, doesn’t need focus on the theme of creativity–though if you’re doing creative work, in the words of one of my favorite creative people, Austin Kleon–his newsletter delights me, week after week–please show your work! I’d love to hear about it.

Truly,
Patricia

P.S. The winner of last month’s Wonder-Room giveaway of Nancy Reddy’s fascinating The Good Mother Myth is my friend Meliss, one of the most creative people I know.

This letter was cross-posted on Substack.