The Irony of Constraints: They’re Creative Advantages in Disguise

Our imagination thrives when pressure is applied, when boundaries are set.

If you talk to another writer — any writer, no matter if they’ve just begun to write or if they have a few published books under their belt — you’ll likely hear complaints about their lack of time to truly write the novel of their dreams.

They yearn for a utopian idyll where time is expansive and unfettered, without worry about paying bills, or perhaps without worry of even making meals or cleaning the house. A pure time to write and nothing else.

I’m such a writer. If I had my druthers, I wouldn’t shop for groceries or even gas the car. I’d reside in a completely pampered life where I would wake up and write every day — and then, and only then, would I truly realize the resplendence of my creative potential and write the novel of my dreams.

Instead, my writing life is a cramped and hectic affair. I work all day, return home to household chores and parenting duties, and bustle through a weekend of demands, whether it’s taking my kids to games and birthday parties or doing one of the nagging tasks to keep my house from falling down (or staring at the house falling down, which is a more likely scenario).

My wife and I joke that we’re in a constant race against time. I try to wake early in the morning before work on the weekdays to write, and then I’ll often jot down a smattering of thoughts while watching my kids play soccer, but I write mostly within the nooks and crannies of time, not in its expansive glories. I suffer from what I call the “not-enough blues” — not enough time, not enough money.

Our imagination doesn’t necessarily flourish in the luxury of total freedom.

There’s an old saying that if you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them, but truth be told, I’ve started to realize I’m lucky to have my limitations.

I now see constraints as advantages in disguise. I’ve observed many a person with time on their hands fritter it away (and then have the audacity to complain about their inability to get anything done). Our imagination doesn’t necessarily…