Without Spontaneity, There Can Be No Creativity
- Terence the Dream
- May 21
- 2 min read
The desire to control the flow of the creative process is a double-edged sword. Having a plan or outline for one's project can grant one a compass or just a starting point for one's idea. But, to try and control this flow of creativity can also cause one to overthink and lose sight of the joy of creative expression. If one has a preconceived notion for what a song should be, then novelty can’t take place, and novelty is needed for the good stuff to get rollin’. Without spontaneity, there can be no creativity.
An artist can have an idea for lyrics one moment and might feel compelled to tell a story about the challenges of mountain climbing or the crippling anxiety that comes with trying out new things. But then, a piano melody with a different untapped story to tell could start manifesting in his or her mind, and then, telling the same story might not feel as interesting. It can be dangerous to get carried away with any one idea because ideas have great power. Even when one feels to be the creator of his or her own ideas, subservience to recurring ideas and patterns can take place without even the creator or thinker of these ideas noticing. Thus, the possibilities of one’s creative potential becomes diluted to the point of becoming one-dimensional and familiar.
On the other hand, when one is spontaneous, then, a sea of untapped potential can be seized.
Imagine you’re practicing guitar and that you’re practicing the same chord progressions, the same songs by the same artists and always the same genre whether it be 90s alternative rock or 2010s indie pop. Why not explore some jazz or 60s rock or maybe a slow tempo guitar instrumental from your favorite anime? Repetition and routine are needed for improvement in technique. Structure is the foundation for discipline and discipline gets things done. But, what really is the fuel for raw, honest creative expression? Spontaneity. An artist has to be unattached to controlling the process while effortlessly sustaining an unquenchable curiosity for what is possible to create in the moment. Curiosity is one of the main driving forces of spontaneity. So is the desire to escape the chains and prison of the boringly predictable.
What lays ahead in today’s creative session? Who knows? No one does at all! That’s part of the fun of creating something!
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