by Mary Elizabeth Leach Raines, © 2025
LIMITS. Boundaries. And, ugh, rules.
Boo! Who wants them?
While people might protest that rules restrict their freedom of expression, it is, in fact, through limitation that beauty arises.
Take music, for instance. The job of composers is the opposite of expansion and freedom. Instead, to avoid chaos, their work consists of creating boundaries and limitations...of following rules. It is only by such boundaries that beauty is created, and not just in music, but in all the arts, and, indeed, in life itself!
Composers like J. S. Bach, for instance, followed extremely restrictive rules of composition, and within those limits composed music that has inspired and moved millions for three centuries. His music is a sound very different from that made by a toddler banging haphazardly on a keyboard.
Fiction writers start with every word and every conceivable experience in the Universe in front of them from which to choose! From this vastness, they must zero in with specificity on their story. Narrowing down and excluding other possibilities takes discipline. Their stories must have structure and balance, and their words need to be selected with enormous care. Great writers also adhere to rules of grammar and punctuation, for they recognize that these rules are in place not to oppress, but rather to help them communicate as clearly and effectively as possible. Such boundaries are what separate the classics from awkward, stream-of-consciousness blather.
Buildings that are created using precise measurements and the precise rules of architecture can be staggering in their beauty, much more than a shed that was made out of random pieces of wood and metal. Similarly, a patchwork quilt cut with precision, conforming to the limitations of a geometric pattern, and stitched together in an orderly way is far more stunning than a bunch of rags carlessly tossed together.
Artists like Rembrandt and Monet followed precise techniques of light, color, perspective, and proportion to produce priceless masterpieces that continue to awe and thrill us today. Film is another arena where plot lines, lighting, framing, and scoring need to be carefully structured to permit fantastic expression.
It is by working within the confines of rules and limitation that beauty is free to emerge! The more boundaries there are, the more breathtaking the result.
Stretching beyond the arts, society itself thrives when there are reasonable boundaries. Rules of the road, such as stopping at red lights, makes driving safer and easier. Limitations on human behavior, from laws against stealing to expecting others to be quiet during a wedding ceremony, allow increased comfort and expansion, as people can relax in their everyday tasks without the constant need to be wary and watchful.
Even in relationships, limits and boundaries create inexpressible beauty. There is a profound richness, depth, and sacredness to love when it is exclusive and devoted that will never be known by those who dilute such a merger by juggling multiple relationships, or those who are always jumping from person to person without ever spending the hours one needs to know someone in depth and to love them wholly. While some protest that structure, limitation, boundaries, and rules take away their freedom, in fact, it is through these restrictions that beauty arises.
Do not back away from limitation. Embrace it, for beauty is the result.
