My knee-jerk reaction to the thought of a limitation is that of being constrained. A cage to an animal. A jacket too tight. Not enough leg room. But let’s avoid suffocating at the thought of limitations; they are not hands that strangle, they are hands that guide.
Imagine this scenario: I ask you to create a piece of art. One that will move me. Then I take you into a massive warehouse that contains every tool you could possibly fathom.
There is an endless grid of brushes ranging from sable hair bristles to stainless steel palette knives. There are stacks of canvases – linen, posterboard, paper – whatever you would need as a foundation for your vision. There is a rainbow-colored yard of colored pencils both soft and hard. A pantry of spray paint cans. A ceramics center. Untouched pastels. Airbrushes. Crayons. Markers. Ink. Aaaaaand go!
Where would you start?
If it were me, my initial approach would be to incorporate everything in an attempt to create a piece of SUPER art! (I have the means do so, why not use it ALL?) Perhaps a little water color here, some colored pencil there, topped off with some pastels, maybe framed with a custom ceramic sculpture, add some spray paint, the options can go on and on. But the inevitable result would be an exhausted Shaun standing over an array of efforts – none near completion.
The problem was that there were no limitations. Though the freedom of all the possibilities seemed liberating at first, it actually had an adverse effect. Self-proclaimed minimalist Leo Babatua (whom I discovered from the wonderful SuperForester Carla), discussed the detriments of a limitless life in his book ‘The Power of Less.’ According to him:
[A lack of limitations] weakens us in many ways. It dilutes our power and effectiveness. It spreads us too thin … A life without limits is taking a cup of red dye and pouring it into the ocean, and watching the color dilute into nothingness. Limited focus is putting that same cup of dye into a gallon of water.
Limitations are our friends. They make decisions for us. They focus us.
Let’s revise the scenario above. This time create a piece of art about dolphins. You have twenty minutes. And this time, I give you only two colored pencils – one blue and one red.
Dolphins? One piece of paper? Only two colored pencils? Twenty minutes!?
Once we bypass the initial frustration of the boundaries set before us, we can bask in the decisions that have already been made. Replace the word ‘limitation’ with the phrase ‘decision-maker.’ The following has been decided: We know the subject of the piece and what materials we are going to use. Now, under the previous circumstances, how long would it have taken us to get to this point?
Our tools may seem meager, but think how much we are going to milk out of those two colored pencils. As opposed to spending the time making decisions and experimenting with countless options – diluting ourselves – we can put that energy into each stroke of these pencils. Our result becomes more focused and more powerful.
What about the time limit?
Time limits are the most impending limitations, yet they are also the most valuable decision makers. If we know ourselves well, then time limits will tell us what we don’t have time for. We then can focus on what can be done. Going back to our example, if twenty minutes is too narrow to make a fully-detailed masterpiece, then it looks like we’ll have to go with a simpler style.
Embrace your limitations. Indirectly, they help us get things done. And if there are no limitations, then by all means, create them. When we are pushed into a corner where there seems to be no options at all, our creativity truly shines. Try it out! Cook something with only three ingredients. Write a love song without using the words: him, her, you, or me. Make a dynamic movie using only a camera phone. Have fun with it!
Much love to you all,
Shaun
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