Winter Flowering Trees

Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem. -Rollo May

We all recognize limitations. We see our work and lives constantly challenged by constraints. We complain that if we just had more time, money, and resources, our lives would run smoothly.

The secret is that limitations stimulate creativity and innovation. More often than not, limitations bring out our best qualities. How can we dance with these limitations?

Limits stimulate the best qualities within us.

Many famous people have turned their disabilities into contributions to the world-Helen Keller, Thomas Edison, and Christopher Reeve are just a few.

Blind and deaf from the age of nineteen months, Helen Keller became a world-famous speaker, author, and advocate for others with disabilities. Thomas Edison's poor hearing kept him from receiving much formal schooling. This limitation led him to question accepted scientific theories and ultimately led to his discovery of electricity.

A horse-riding accident confined Christopher Reeve, the famed Superman, to a wheelchair. Formerly an actor, athlete, and activist, Reeve created a foundation to research spinal cord injuries, became a sought-after inspirational speaker, and continued to act-demonstrating to millions around the world that physical maladies don't diminish the spirit.

As Bishop Jonathan Keaton concluded in his sermon about Reeve, "Christopher Reeve is Superman, right here, right now." Why? "Reeve shows us the power, the possibilities and the results of a fierce and persistent commitment to growth and development. ... Instead of limiting the communication of his story to letters, books and videos subject to edit, Reeve chose the lecture circuit. That meant showing up in public, allowing the public to gawk at his incapacity, talking about his condition and sharing lessons learned. Thus, Christopher Reeve has become Superman for real."

Limits are structures that direct and фокус us.

Do you find that when you have unlimited time, you don't produce as compelling a product? Without limits, the creative process often seems difficult. Isn't it easier to work when you face some restrictions, either on your process or your content? Where a blank canvas can be daunting, a few outlines can inspire.

Often it's our perspective that limits us, not the limit itself. If we think that limits on time or money are bad, then we neglect to mine our constraints for what they can offer us. Our judgment colors our perspective and becomes the real limit.

For example, I have a friend who does not buy new clothes: she is conscious of our overuse of resources and she doesn't want to put more stuff into the waste stream. And, she always looks great in her hand-me-downs and Goodwill finds. She is also one of the most creative people I know, painting fabulous snakes from beach driftwood, adding colorful shades and paint to Goodwill lamps for gifts, making mosaics from broken pottery and heart rocks. Her values and attitude transform her limits into fun challenges for her.

In our world of apparently "unlimited" resources, we have lost track of the natural order of things: Our limits are in fact the heart and soul of creative expression.

Why? Because limits are the other half of the whole. Our gardens produce through the cycles of life and death, fruit and compost. We are awake during the day because we sleep at night. Similarly, the pressure of limited time causes us to get to the point, ask for support, think more creatively, get clear about priorities. Beethoven wrote his most famous symphony when he was deaf, perhaps because he was privy to the silence in which to grow the most beautiful music he could imagine.

The best designs result from limits.

The architect for our house remodel believes that the best designs result from limitations, whether structural or budgetary. His final design for us brilliantly blended one contemporary angle with the traditional style that was the фокус of the remodel. In the kitchen, a kitchen island and a large traditional arch both incorporate this angle, creating a delightful contrast with the square lines throughout the rest of the house. That design element has received more compliments than any other part of our remodel.

In the artistic and creative fields, structure and limiting form provide a focal point for expression. It is when we disregard or resist limits that we get into trouble. The beauty of a sonnet, the delight of a limerick or haiku, the importance of meter in any poem, results directly from constraint. Symphonic music, restrained by meter and key, is timeless. Some of the best films are low budget-"Once," shot for $160,000, received both popular acclaim and an Academy Award for best original song.

Limits stimulate creativity and innovation.

What tools will help us shift our relationship with limits and constraints?

1. Change your perspective. View limits as the other half of the puzzle-as structures that direct and фокус the final form. Train yourself to see a limitation as a seed that will burst forth into a beautiful and unexpected flower. The secret is to remember there are no limits to what is possible. Yes, it sounds like a paradox. The universal truth is that our unlimited potential is actually fueled by our limits.

2. Dance with the limitation. Release your resistance, without releasing the tension. Have you ever danced with a skilled partner? If so, you know that the tension between partners is the secret to success. The tension of too little time may force you to prioritize or give up something that you want to do. But rather than resisting, accept the limitation as a gift enabling you to make hard choices and to know yourself better.

3. Address the limitation, as you would a budget. Where does this limitation direct you? When a client gives you a budget, how does it improve your management skills, your practical lawyering, your creativity as a graphic designer, your efficiency as an editor, or your vision as an architect? When I worked as a lawyer, I loved the clients who held me accountable. It brought out the best in me as a lawyer and as a person.

4. Ask what inner gifts the limitation invites in you. With less money, are you more compassionate toward those in similar circumstances? With less time, do you make it a point to put people first, rather than the tasks that press earnestly for your attention? With fewer resources, do you find that you are more open to sharing and collaborating with others?

5. Tap into your creativity. Become playful. Take the cap off your imagination. Unleash all ideas-whether practical or not-and see where they go. Bring hope, an unstoppable attitude, and the notion that "anything is possible," to each situation. Let humor contribute to your creative juice. What is your dream invention, project, design, company, life's work?

Our unlimited potential is fueled by our limits.

So, the next time you feel you don't have enough time, support, money or resources, relax, turn on the music, and dance. Our limits are gifts that can take us to the next level of creative expression and personal growth.

Limits are gifts that take us to the next level of creative expression.

Jane Faulkner is the founder of Embodied Living. She is a professional, certified coach and past practicing lawyer with training and experience in neurolinguistics, somatics, organizational change, energy and sound healing. She works with clients, through creativity and integrating the body, mind and spirit to create authentic and fulfilling lives and work. She is a seminar presenter, writer and speaker in Seattle, WA