Boundary Lines

The reason that I’ve been drawn to an art form with less clearly defined boundary lines is probably because growing up I didn’t understand boundary lines.  I needed an expressive outlet that didn’t have clearly defined boundary lines. Part of that was because I was (am) dyslexic (I couldn’t read until I was 11) therefore writing as a creative art form did not make sense to me.

I still think the easiest and pure form of art for me is when you put good actors in a room and you give them a story, a concept, or an idea, and say “go!” and let them just be in the moment.  They do need boundaries too.  But they’re not as observable to the outside world.

The older I get I recognize that boundary lines are the foundation and the key to good art.  I appreciate writing as artwork now. My younger sister has her Masters now in Creative Writing. I read her work and I think it’s amazing how she can carefully craft words and she takes time to put them within the boundary lines of the text.  I appreciate that.

Boundaries are the building blocks to everything we do.  God created the world with boundaries. It was a massive void until he created.  I realize that the very act of creation was setting boundary lines. He said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters” (Gen. 1:6).  In Job God actually says that he set a boundary line for the sea: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Or shut the sea in with doors…and prescribed limits for it” (Gen 38:4,10).

That’s the key to parenting too.  The more that I spend time with my best friends who are parents and also just observe children I get to “parent,” the more I recognize how key boundaries are to their development. I know that if rules are given in love they create a greater sense of identity in the child to where creativity can flow freely, unhindered.

I’ve been studying the creative process ever since I went to school for acting that’s what, 10 years ago?  10 years of study has made me begin to recognize that boundaries are so key.  A lot of boundaries have to do with opening up new boxes, setting new parameters, asking new questions – that get to the heart of the issue.

The key to good boundary setting that allows for the most creativity is knowing when to place them and when to take them away.  My guitar teacher this summer said, “we must know the rules first and then we can break them.”  Then, when he saw me play a chord that was not in the key I was in he began to show me all the open doors I will eventually walk through as I continue to think outside the box.