Breaking Them Rules

"Creativity originates largely in the breaking of rules."

-- Bill Romey

Many of the rules that we live by are so embedded in our unconscious that we don't even realize how they shape our lives. You work regularly until 65 and then you retire; that's just how it's done. Monogamy is the only moral form for intimate relationships. And, of course, desert is always eaten after the rest of the meal.

But what if you retired at 43 for 7 years and then went back to work at 50? What if you had three lovers instead of one -- sometimes simultaneously?! What if one meal a week you ate all your deserts for the week and skipped the so-called healthy food altogether?

Would the sky fall? The temple tumble? Or God zap your ass with lighting bolts from above?

I doubt it.

Would you have fun? Probably. Would you see the world differently? Definitely. Would your breaking of the usually unquestioned rules of everyday conduct lead to creative breakthroughs? Maybe.

Creativity isn't just about inventing a new mouse trap. It's first about transcending ruts and SOP's and experiencing the world in new and different ways. Even if they are only new and different for you.

Ultimately creativity is about consciousness. Consciously trying new ways of doing and being rather than continuing to follow the well-worn paths.

What rules does it make sense to break? Any rules the breaking of which will not directly hurt another person. So, if you eat your desert first it's not going to put weight on the other folks sitting at the table. If you rob a bank or kill your next door neighbor or dump chemical waste into the drinking water, then you've created trauma in the lives of others and have obviously broken the wrong rules. A little low level discernment should help you to know the difference.

So, today is Rule Breaking Day! First you got to find the rules, because they are usually submerged in your psyche not posted on the wall. Then break a couple. See how it feels. Guilty or freeing? Or both? See how the world changes, how your world view changes simply by surfacing and breaking few rules.

The possibilities are endless! Your playing field expands! So energizing, so interesting -- life is born anew.