Does Discipline Inhibit Man's Creativity?

Discipline is displayed in the leading of a lifestyle, with a certain method of going about common tasks. Discipline is also what prods a person to do what is required even if one does not particularly want to do it. But does discipline also mean having a rigid way of thinking or going about life, and does it also result in the suppression of creativity?

I believe that discipline does not have any real relation to rigidity and the suppression of creativity at all. It is simply that those who have a rigid lifestyle often have the appearance of being disciplined by that very virtue. If the will to do what ought to be done is discipline, then discipline ought not inhibit creativity. An example may help clarify things. The Japanese are clearly high-achieving people. However, because of the discouragement of individuality, they lag behind the United States of America in such things as computer software, scientific inventions and so on. This is a example of creativity in Japan being stifled by rigidity, not discipline.

Creativity is the ability to find ways of getting around problems and doing things differently. It is also, in the artistic sense, the ability to develop and create works of art. Very unlikely, people find the artist and the genius untidy and lacking in discipline. If we look closely at the way artists go about their main concern, it will be noticed that they have an intense discipline of their own. Take the musical prodigy, W.A.Mozart. As a child, while others were at play, he was practising in the harpsichord. Later in his life, as a matter of fact, just before his death, he composed his requiem, even though he was in ill health. Thomas Edison once said that his successes were the result of one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, demonstrating the need for discipline in the form of determination and hard work.

Discipline has other benefits for those who endeavour to be creative for it brings with it a systematic approach to living and working. The result: is the person can focus more on his creation and not be distracted by what is irrelevant to his work.

Disciplined creativity may be sometimes mistaken for ill discipline. In a poet's intense concentration on his poetry, he may disregard his appearance and therefore be labelled as wild or eccentric. But to speak on behalf of the poetic, if it is necessary at all since his poems should speak clearly for him, the poet is merely concentrating on his main task, which is to compose.

In conclusion, discipline on its own neither suppresses individuality nor sets up rigid restrictions but is able to aid individuals to be creative by driving them to strive to reach their goals, and to give them the determination not to give up even if they meet with setbacks.