Creative Constraints

Third Quarter Moon in Aquarius

We’ve been following this lunar cycle together, so it only feels right to write to you about tomorrow’s Third Quarter Moon in Aquarius. As a refresher: we made it fashion at the New Moon in Taurus three weeks ago, put on our angry face at the First Quarter Moon in Leo two weeks ago, and fired our fear at the Full Moon in Scorpio last week. 🌑🌗🌕

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Constraints breed creativity.

I read these words (again) recently, and I just learned that even the Harvard Business Review is writing about it. So it must be true, right?

I could even testify to personal experiences that support this, and I’m now remembering how vibrantly resourceful I became when I worked as a camp counselor on a shoestring budget. Several weeks into the summer, my friend Adrienne and I developed alternate personalities as celebrity weightlifters - Beastly and Beefcake - and we ran an activity called “Being Buff.” We decorated old styrofoam crates as million-pound weights, we strained heavily as we mock-struggled to lift them above our heads, and then we dropped them back to the ground with a massive sigh of faux-relief. The kids all did it, too. It was a hit. 🏋️‍♀️

So I get it, sometimes we can do more with less. It’s like on Sunday night when our fridge is mostly empty and I make dinner from whatever ingredients are left. It feels like a game, and some spicy new favorites like egg-fried rice have emerged from this alimentary abyss to claim places in our semi-regular rotation. This wouldn’t happen in a fully-stocked kitchen because I wouldn’t have the constraints I need to be creative…or at least that’s what this restrictive axiom of human ingenuity would have me believe.

Tomorrow’s third quarter Moon in Aquarius is all about releasing beliefs that limit us, so I’m going to give this one a run for its money. Because while I totally see how constraints can be connected with creativity, it is neither joyful nor necessary to be forced into a position of resourcefulness in order to be creative. Instead, I want to believe - constraints or not - that human beings are inherently creative, that it is our must fundamental purpose to create, that we are at all points creating the very experience we came here to create. This is the phenomenon we call “life.”

From this perspective, constraints are there not as cages around our creativity, but as spiritual prompts to remind us of our natural creative instincts. They are like project briefing notes that help us to focus and channel our creativity, a structure through which our creativity can flow. So maybe it’s not helpful to think of them as constraints, and I wonder if most of the time we don’t. For instance, I did not walk into the camp supply closet and think “these are my constraints.”

It’s a subtle but significant shift. Aquarius is deeply concerned with how we land in our thoughts, and the words we choose to cement our ideas will inevitably shape how we move through the world. In other words: how creative do you feel when you tell yourself that you are constrained? Would you feel more creative if you told yourself that you were fully resourced, that you had all the materials you needed to make something beautiful?

I had my own belief breakthrough moment yesterday on the yoga mat when the teacher said - in passing - “You only have one go with this body, so enjoy it.” I suddenly realized that I was seeing my own physicality as a constraint. It strikes me that it might be something we humans all experience sometimes, that seemingly wide gulf between what we know we know is possible (a handstand!) and what we can do right now (a headstand).

It also brought to mind that moment when my daughter jumped off the chair with a wide smile on her face. She was so delighted to glide through the air… until she landed on the floor with a thud and burst into tears. She wasn’t crying because it hurt, she was crying because she couldn’t fly. I somehow had the presence of mind to tell her - to tell myself - that it’s not true, that she can fly. I told her that if you can do it in your dreams, if you can do it in your imagination, then you can do it. That’s still you.

I believe that we exist on all of those levels, and I know there are no rules about what you can imagine. So in this very real way, your creativity can never constrained. And what would your body be like - what would this physical world we share look like - if you treated it not as constraint, but as a container for your infinite creativity? Believe it and it will be so. And if you need help getting there, just look up to the sky and ask the Moon to carry the idea of necessary restriction into the darkness ahead. While it does, start trusting that you will be creative in every circumstance by remembering that you already are.👨‍🎨

Love,

Patrick

PS: There are more Taurean themes and metaphors here than I can shake a stick at! I don’t always point them out because they’re not intentional and I don’t want to interrupt the flow, but weightlifting, cooking, supplies, materials and physical embodiment are so Taurus it hurts. We’re always writing with the stars, whether we know it or not.✨

PPS: If you enjoyed this post, please share it and give a shout out below! I’d love to know how this is showing up in your life.