The poetry of ethics
Find your natural rhythm within the conventions of established processes
In his book "Imagine," Jonah Lehrer explains how too much freedom granted by too little structure may actually impair our imaginations, allowing them to run wild and lose focus.
Through the demands of adhering to strict rules governing the arrangement of words, the poet has to search harder, compose with more deliberation, and prod his imaginative abilities to find the perfect word to fit the restrictive space.
In other words, less freedom inspires greater creativity.
Decades before there was any discussion about athletes juicing to enhance their performance on the field, Bob Dylan coined the now-ubiquitous term as he struggled to squeeze out this internal rhyme in his revolutionary ballad, “Like a Rolling Stone:”
Ahh you’ve gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it…
Needing a word to rhyme with “used” and communicate the self-indulgence of drug culture, Mr. Dylan may have exhausted the lexicon of possible expressions before finding refuge in the last resort of inventing the word himself.
In the midst of the Passover festival, it's worth taking every opportunity to reflect on the nature and responsibilities of freedom, and what it truly means to be free.
