each step is a choice

keep on steppin'

Walking with someone yesterday, I was told:

I could never be a ‘by the book’ type. You know those ones, the kind that lean on the rules so they don’t need to put themselves on the hook. They’re strict with the rules. It saves them the trouble of embracing nuance.

I pressed a bit: Is that really how you live?

Oh yeah, he replied, I’d never do that, I’m a creative guy.

I laughed. Dude works all day walking a nuanced line.

Then he works all night worrying about his decisions.

That is the unpaid overtime of a creative.

Given that you’ve decided that you ‘couldn’t’ and ‘won’t’ be one of those ‘office types’ can you not see your lack of creativity? The rules exist to support you. They help you leave work at work and not do so much unpaid overtime.

He was dumbstruck.

Creativity is a choice.

When we decide something as final, without rethinking and overturning our decision, we remove that choice.

There are times when the most creative thing we can do is consider the choices attached to our identity.