Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Amorphous or Structured..?

Amorphous is an interesting word.  It means without a clearly defined shape or form. To me this is not a negative. I actually think that this is how the creative mind works. An idea starts out as an amorphous thought - something that is not clearly defined. Then it grows and starts to create its own structure, it's own identity.

Yes, you can impose form and order on an idea, but then you might miss something - an extension, that could give it another dimension. Perhaps this is why "think tanks" are a productive way of problem solving. Someone throws out an idea and others add to it, thus growing a thought into a structure that might work.

"Go with the Flow" people have flexible personalities. They are not rigid and can therefore change to fit in or accept a situation, possibly slowly changing it to their liking, from within. I know that the single celled Amoeba is often described as "amorphous" because it can change its shape to fit the circumstances. However a single cell or idea will grow, developing into something ironically quite structured.



The picture is of a few mustard seeds. It is definitely an amorphous "arrangement" and the configuration will change with the slightest breath. Plant any of these seeds and they will grow into a structured plant that will produce more seeds. The seeds that aren't harvested with be blown by the wind, planting themselves in random places, growing and reproducing or naturalizing, as a botanist would say.

I wonder if being amorphous is better than being structured. Or maybe we just need to balance the two. After all, structured cells will change with the environment and morph slowly over time.

Have an unstructured day!!




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