Chaos and Creativity

[Jules]

I have been thinking lately about the environment needed for creativity to thrive, the right balance of order and chaos. The different ways of creating.
It hit me today that one of my personal challenges, artistically speaking is that I probably have a low tolerance for chaos, meaning for example-I might get home and see that the kitchen is (visually) a mess and its noisy and I can't see clear to cook or even think until its clean and more quiet. Until I have a blank canvas so to speak. My head just can't deal. I see every little detail and am distracted to death. ADD?
I know people for whom this is not the case. I have a friend who is a photographer and her home is filled with art, but also cluttered beyond belief. It doesn't bother her at all. And actually, it doesn't really bother me if I am at her place. It feels natural and lovely at her place. Just not at mine.
I've had to work to allow the brainstorming process to work. I tend to be a relatively efficient person and I like decisions made and done. This is why I've normally wound up doing the behind the scenes organizational work. Its always been hard for me to allow the question to remain unanswered in a void.
I feel good about helping the system run, I find value in it and have been valued for it, but I can feel slightly discomfited that I've not been enough of the creative process, per se. Perhaps I am discounting the creativity involved in organizing things.
This has been a longstanding curiousity I have about how I work and what I can produce.
Improv has helped me immeasurably, but I still find myself too literal, perhaps too wound up.
The balance between rigid order and wild chaos. Who else thinks about all that?
Night owls? Anyone?

[sara farr]

I like a bit of mess... but if it gets out of controll, it feels opressive. (sp?) I feel I need some bit of organization to be able to function without it adding more stress - where did I put my paints, where is my pencil box, which sketchpad is my most current/empty one, etc. Now that I work mostly on the computer and get paid to do it, I have to maintain a great deal of organization. This is mostly because I work on teams and at any moment someone may need something -- a file or document -- but I don't always keep up. And some of my messy habits creep into my virtual space. Had this problem recently and it caused much stress during the time I was supposed to be creating.

Yes, it helps to have a room that is seemingly a mess, but is actually orgainzed with everything out and ready to be accessed. My mom -- a painter and collage artist -- locks her studio door bc she needs it to be messy, but can't have people coming in and messing with it. My dad -- a pack rat and slob at heart, but a clean-cut businessman in the real world -- leaves broken stained glass on the floor of his studio (which serves his all round multi-media artist tendencies) so no one but he bothers to go in there.

I let my messes grow until they start to scare me and I freak out. Then it's time to clean up. I used do this by re-organizing my furniture. Now I have someone who comes and cleans every 2 weeks, so I have to keep my house cleaned up enough that they can get things clean.

[Asaf]

I think the best things come out of allowing things to be chaotic, artistically speaking. When I lead a class of beginners, I always invite them to be messy. A cautious approach does not yield any surprises and surprises lead to great improv.

Now when it comes to nuts and bolts production, there needs to be order. That is why in theater companies there are separate people who are the executive director and artistic director. Hopefully.

[Jules]

I think what I find most interesting is how different people react to chaos or if it is viewed as something inherently positive or negative. Much of that probably has something to do with dominant personality traits or possibly family of origin history. How our parents dealt with creativity, mess, chaos and if was positive for them or not.
I know why I am the way I am, that's not really relevant, I'm just still wondering how to keep shifting it.
Getting to practice and perform improv has probably been the best gift I've received for allowing that mess to occur.