Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, Guatemala

“Reading and writing are acts of empathy and faith. Guard that trust carefully — in this rapidly changing business, it’s the only sure thing.” ~Erin Keane
"Never give up. And most importantly, be true to yourself. Write from your heart, in your own voice, and about what you believe in." ~ Louise Brown

"Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it." ~Jesse Stuart

"A writer's job is to take one thing and make it stand for twenty." ~ Virginia Woolf

Thursday, August 27, 2015

No Rules

I appreciate all those who weighed in on my last IWSG post about the doubts concerning my blog and website. And also those who made comments on the previous post about my grandson's no punctuation masterpiece.

It reminded me again of what I already know: where creativity exists, there are no rules, no right or wrong way to express one's art. Except that the right way is to express it and the wrong way is block oneself due to fear of breaking some rule or making a mistake.

True joy comes from fearless creative expression, learning what works and what doesn't as you go, like this little guy.




Posted by at

15 comments:

  1. BirgitAugust 27, 2015 at 5:16 PM

    You are right! We are geared by rules and there is a reason for rules but sometimes, rules need to be bent or even broken to let creativity fly or so much more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susan KaneAugust 27, 2015 at 6:49 PM

    Rules have a definite place in society, but when it comes to that little guy, rules change.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael Di GesuAugust 27, 2015 at 8:33 PM

    You are so right, Karen... Kids are fearless and try everything. We, as adults, need to remember this and not let FEAR strangle our creativity...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hilary Melton-ButcherAugust 28, 2015 at 12:18 AM

    Hi Karen - how right you are ... never be afraid of enjoying oneself and just doing .. love the photo of your grandson .. what a magnificent face - so so happy! ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alex J. CavanaughAugust 28, 2015 at 4:52 AM

    So true! And agree completely with what Michael said.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Arlee BirdAugust 28, 2015 at 6:33 AM

    Rules that bring a certain sense of logical order that result in better comprehension are necessary. Rules that impose someone else's opinions or feelings are restrictive and stifle personal reach of creativity and expression. We need to be willing to experiment and test limits, but we also need to stay within certain norms that allow others to understand what we are doing with greater facility. I'm mainly talking about writing of course. Other arts can stretch limits to far greater realms.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rosalind AdamAugust 28, 2015 at 7:55 AM

    It's only young children who can truly be free to express their creativity. As soon as we start to judge ourselves, the creativity becomes stifled. Lovely photo.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Terri TiffanyAugust 28, 2015 at 12:15 PM

    I struggle with the rules when it comes to writing. Many are necessary but knowing them lets you break them! And you really need to sometimes!

    ReplyDelete
  9. dolorahAugust 28, 2015 at 5:40 PM

    Sometimes breaking the rules is the right thing. Its good to take a risk. The story sounded like an excited kid talking about how proud of his dad he was. Very well told :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jan MorrisonAugust 29, 2015 at 5:04 AM

    Artists of all stripes must break rules - that is the only rule I abide by all the time. Oh, and come back to my site dear gal, I did post finally.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mirka BreenAugust 29, 2015 at 9:43 AM

    Yay to the Little Guy. We needed a reminder of pure joy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Stephanie FarisAugust 30, 2015 at 4:53 AM

    How cute! We have to learn the rules...so we'll know when we should break them!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Denise CoveyAugust 30, 2015 at 5:53 PM

    The only rule is to break the rules. Go Karen!

    ReplyDelete
  14. T. Powell ColtrinAugust 31, 2015 at 6:29 AM

    As we age, we lose our fearlessness which is so sad. Your writing and blog are awesome! Your grandson is totally the cutest.

    PS I like what Stephanie said, "We have to learn the rules...so we'll know when we should break them!"

    ReplyDelete
  15. Chrys FeyAugust 31, 2015 at 7:08 AM

    You can't be creative and follow a bunch of rules.

    Adorable picture!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)