Can I just start by saying how absolutely exhausted I am by the phrases “coloring outside the lines” and “thinking outside the box”? (Of course I can, it’s my blog!)

1. I like to color inside the lines. It looks neat and tidy and everything is in it’s place and there’s nothing wrong with that.
2. I like my box: I know where all the walls are and it’s roomy enough that I don’t feel claustrophobic.

If it’s your first time here or you’ve somehow failed to notice: I’m a very creative person. Both sides of my brain stay quite busy and I come up with way more ideas that I’ll ever be able to use. The above points don’t interfere with that one iota. Why?

Because I don’t feel the need to buck authority or tradition at every turn. I have a lot more time to create because I’m not eternally focused on how to disrupt convention or be a renegade, I’m in my box, doing my thing, and bringing in whatever I need when necessary. (Not that I think all who employ those catch-phrases are, but I’ve met a lot who think just that.)

Comforting things about lines, boxes and rules:

1. They give us a framework to create in. Sometimes having all the options in the world is a hinderance instead of a benefit. You can spend way too much time picking out a dozen colors that will just look muddy when all combined into once piece whereas if the rules say you create with 2 complimentary colors, your options just narrowed. You pick between half a dozen pairs and get on with the creating instead of changing your mind a handful of times and then having to fix the mess the unlimited options led you to.
2. A line is a path, a road, and just because someone already mapped it doesn’t mean there’s nothing for you to discover as you travel it. There’s 2 sides to each of those lines, too, the inside and the out and there’s nothing that says you can’t decorate on both. Sometimes our work looks better against a blank wall whereas other times it’s nice to have a background that coordinates and enhances. But the lines are there to show someone who can’t read our mind what parts go together.
3. A box can be the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced (in a good way). Whether it’s a deadline (self-imposed or otherwise) or a set of parameters you cannot deviate from, it’s a challenge to be creative with limited time or materials. But it can be done. If you concentrate on what you have and immerse yourself, instead of bellyaching about what you could be using if you had your own way and one other thing, you might just be surprised at what you can come up with.

But, Scraps, what’s the big deal? So what if people “think outside the box” and go a little off-plan?

What if those plans are for your house? What if the contractor thinks the architect was nuts and moves a wall here, a beam there, takes out an eave here and puts in an arch there? Not only are not getting the house you wanted, it may not be structurally sound!

Now I’m off to color a picture. That I drew. Those lines are exactly where I want them 🙂

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Daily Doodle for Thursday:

Okay, so it was harder than I though to come up with something to draw each day. But, with the topic above bouncing around in my head, it did get the pencil moving, at least.

I don’t always do weekend posts but I have one last drawing topic in mind so at some point Saturday I’ll have something ready to go. Time is uncertain as there will be visual aids that need creating. Best way not to miss it, of course, is subscribe to the RSS feed 🙂