Imposing Rules Opressive?

Say what you will about rules, but sometimes, I feel, they can bring out the creativity in you. 



Allow me to explain. 

I don't love rules. Maybe it's my rebel years growing up in the Bronx. I grew my hair very long and... Well, there were a lot of other things that shaped those years, but that's for another post--perhaps a book in itself. 

But for certain things, rules can help. Of course you have to know where to break them, yet still respect them. 

See, I guess it also matters who makes them. Or, even, how they are broken. 

Something that comes to mind is my teen years listening to Howard Stern. Love him or hate him, Howard has an interesting story. 

He had feuds with many, but one of the ones that stood out the most was the ongoing battle with the FCC. 

This agency used him as one of the main examples when it came to lewd remarks and cursing. And he gave them hell for it. 

Yeah, he had some sticky situations where lawyers got involved, but for the most part he circumvented their rules and still got his point, and what he wanted to say, across clearly. 

I listen to him now once in a blue moon on satellite radio and it's just not the same. 

Now he can curse and do as much as he wants. I will say, though, he has toned it down a bit. But it's just not the same as when he had to use his imagination to get things across. 

Was it good he was censored? 

No. 

But I did understand the other side who thought he was crass and disgusting. But at this point you simply shut off the radio, or tune in to another station. 

Either way, whatever you think of either side, the rules he had to abide by shaped his shows. His crew had to come up with different terms for the curses and acts he described. It was just more entertaining. 

Opie and Anthony went down his path, and again, while they were on "terestrial" radio (as they refer to it) they were funny. I found it hilarious how they got around the rules and when the reported how they could get in trouble for this next bit. But when they went to Satellite, they let loose and it just didn't have that humor any longer. 

At least for me. 

It was still them, don't get me wrong. And it was fun listening to them. But the entertainment and thrills of having to get a message through the "powers that be" was lost. 

So. I come back to writing. If there are no rules, and no way to show "hey, look, i'm breaking this rule!" Then how will you grow? How will you test yourself to see how far your imagination can circumvent those rules, those restrictions. 

And later apply that to life and how it restricts you every day. It beats you down and tries to stop you from grabbing the earth and pulling yourself along towards your goal. 

But you can't let it beat you. You have to use  your imagination, what you've learned, and blaze that path to success. Whether it be writing, directing, creating video games, acting, art etc. 

Everything is a lesson, and I believe things do happen for a reason. 

Do you feel rules hamper, or force the artist to spark creativity? 

Let me know in the comments section below, or on Twitter @WCMarchese or even on YouTube here, where it's got this funky new social aspect to it now. 

Hope to see you there. 

WCM. 

This past week I had a great leaf on top of a great cup of coffee from City of Saints Coffee Roasters. Thank you for the leaf and for the bag of coffee. So good! 







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