What do you think is the most powerful motivator behind most creativity?  If you answer God that’s true, but isn’t what I’m asking. I’m looking for what is it here on earth that powers most creativity?

My answer:  Limitations.

I have long thought this to be true, and the through isn’t original with me by a long shot.  The reason I’m talking about this today is a post written yesterday by Chris Elrod titled, “The Houdini Solution.” It’s a great read, be sure to check it out.

I’d like to take a slightly wider view than Chris’s post, and talk about this for a moment from the perspective of our entire lives.  The old saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” is not only true, but points to exactly what I’m talking about. When you don’t have the ability to do something that you have to do, you make it up, invent it, and often change the world by so doing.

The odd thing about this is that most creative people seem to miss this. They are constantly pushing to remove all boundaries from their work, in the hopes that this will allow them to do more.  It’s understandable since everyone wants to be unfettered when they seek to create.

There in lies the problem.  Look at the entertainment industry today as compared to 30 or 40 years ago.  Which time showed the most creativity?  I would argue that Hollywood answer this for us, all you have to do is look at their constant remaking of old movies and TV shows to know that they used to be more creative then they are now.

Yet when compared to 40 years ago, the entertainment industry has almost no limits placed on it! And they are producing loads and loads of crap!

Think about stand up comedy. When I was a kid the guys on TV couldn’t swear at all, so they had to find other ways, creative ways of expressing themselves.  Today they just toss out the F-Bomb or some other profanity and let it go at that.  The perfect example of how the removal of boundaries and limits kills creativity!

Could it be, could it possibly be, that God in his wisdom knows all this, and that’s one reason why he allows so many limits to exist in our lives?

Something to think about I hope!