Does chaos rule creativity?
The disciplined genius versus the untameable artist
When we channel mayhem into creativity, the results can be groundbreaking.
When we apply ourselves to detail and craftsmanship, we can master technique.
Organisation, or lack thereof, is something many creatives have strong feelings about because it’s central to how we prioritise our work. Do we focus on dragging our inner-most feelings onto the canvas or do we buckled down and drill piano scales?
Perhaps the answer falls somewhere in the middle.
Raw creative power
In my latest podcast episode, I talk about an article from the British Psychological Society titled “Creativity and the Chaos Rainbow” by William Todd Shultz.
The article discusses how chaotic creatives have a weaker filter and as a result, have lower latent inhibition. Therefore, they’re more vulnerable to risk-taking, rule-breaking, and inclined to living in fantasy.
Yet, sometimes a bit of madness can be a good thing. It’s fun to let go and lower our inhibitions while expressing ourselves. In the beginning of the episode, I talk about how I’ve been trying to regain my childlike wonder that got dimmed somewhere along the road to adulthood. In a weird way, I feel like this specific podcast episode has been a couple years in the making. I’ve been struggling to be confident enough to fully label myself as an artist and creative for a long time. Something I was never hung up on when I was younger. I was an artist. I was a creative type. I didn’t question it or overthink this aspect of identity like I do as an adult.
Though, adulthood isn’t necessarily the villain here. I think my life skills and stronger analytical thinking has helped me become a more efficient creator. I also have a better ability to improve my work. When I was a teenager, I let a lot of very unserious concerns (thank you hormones) stand in the way of using my abundance of free time to do art, write, etc.
I appreciate that chaos is important to creative process. I also appreciate that I’m mature enough to sit down and get things done. Like most things in life, it’s a balancing act.
While I was researching this episode, I also wrote an article from Nicolas Cole titled “It’s Possible to Be Both Creative and Organized”. I love this article because it’s short, sharp, and no-bull. Definitely not the right advice for everyone, but for those of us who are more inclined to appreciate structure in our routines, it provides three great tips on increasing artistic output: get rid of distractions, manage your time in blocks, and be prepared.
Most important of all, I don’t believe that this dynamic between chaos and structure is fixed. I think we all have the ability to change our patterns and know when to lean on one aspect or the other to benefit our work in specific ways.