The Painting

A painting is composed of two completely opposite elements: creativity and discipline. Creativity is the inspiration that comes to the artist when he "thinks outside the box", a metaphor for original and not ordinary thinking. Discipline, on the other hand, is the restrictions that the artist has to practice when doing his work. One can look at these two elements in three dimensions:

• The first one is the projection of these two ideas on our lives in general, creativity is a treat that's born with us, maybe with different degrees among people, but we can still say that all kids are born with a degree of creativity. Discipline on the other hand is "imposed" on us; by our parents, by our teachers, and by the laws of religion and the social system. There's no harm in too much creativity as long as it does not cause harm to others. Too much or too little discipline, on the other hand, will pretty much cause negative effects on creativity. Too much discipline will kill creative thinking and thus slow or even stop progress (both of a single person and a whole nation), and too little discipline will cause creativity to go wild and probably be more harmful than beneficial.
• The second dimension is related to the painting as a work of art that "needs" to be done. If an artist is left to his creativity alone without the restrictions of providing for a living and meeting the demands of art lovers, he may not finish most of his works, because a true creative artist will probably never be satisfied with his work of art since true creativity has no limits. The rules of discipline are somewhat necessary for him to find a stopping point and deliver a final product.
• The third dimension is about the final product; the painting itself. No matter how wonderful and original the painting is, it will wear out and fade with time unless it is enclosed in a frame with a glass cover. After all, the frame is like the discipline to the final product which is the result of wild creative talent.

How is all this related together? Well, this is a metaphor for every single thing we do in life, we have to understand that creativity must come first and be unleashed. We must break the mental walls that may have been planted in our minds since we were young and became so strong that we do not dare think wild and act wild. By thinking and acting wild I mean to think out of the usual and ordinary and expected. After we learn to release the immense power of creativity and imagination, we can restore our inscribed rules of discipline to structure and organize this power, not to suppress it; to direct it, not to stop it. And whatever comes out of our creative imagination should have the grace and beauty of a painting: it should be awe-inspiring and mind-stirring, and it should be framed well, not too tight and not too loose. This will most probably be an excellent work of art.