I follow Tim Schrader, a church communication guru. I read his blog and enjoy his tweets. Tim’s posts are full of insight and I like his spirit. Recently, he shared a picture that he found on Jeremy Cowart‘s Google Plus feed. (Cowart is an incredible photographer, the brains behind Help Portrait). The picture (which I have posted below) includes 9 rules for creatives.

Now, my first thought was “Creatives don’t like rules. So that title is ironic.” As I waited, I realized that rules are like boundaries, and creativity thrives within boundaries. Even sometimes in proportion to the amount of boundaries.

As I have reflected on these rules several times over the last week or so, the one that resonates the most with me is teach others about what you know. I am a verbal processor and so the longer I talk, the more I comprehend what I believe and the more I clarity I get. God bless my wife who is often the victim (or listener, however you want to look at it) in this process. My creativity grows and expands and I connect ideas as I share them with others. As I teach what I already know, and as others repeat back to me and reflect on what I’ve said, my ideas get better, clearer and more portable. Twice this week, I have pitched ideas to coworkers, airing the concepts outloud for the first time and by the time we were done, my ideas were more developed and my next steps were obvious. When I teach others what I already know, my energy increases and my creativity expands.

I know creatives and artists are supposed to hate rules, but we are also supposed to not shower, be poor, miss meetings and be unreasonable. Rules can guide us into greater art if we submit to them like the boundaries of a medium, a subject or a timeframe.

Question: Whether you are a creative, an artist or you miss drawing with crayons, which of these 9 rules resonates most with you?