Freedom

I've been told my work is tight. I need to loosen up. I need to show more mistakes, I need to be more expressive. Find your way on the canvas, explore as you go. I do agree with most of this. I want to do some of this but I wonder if this is something that needs to happen naturally, something that develops through time, through mistakes and on a subconscious level.
I wish I remember the person that told me this. "style is something you do subconsciously over and over again", I think that is true.
Currently I feel I've been at the grocery store and people telling me what to buy for a recipe of something I don't want to eat. I know ultimately I need to find a recipe that I like. It's kind of funny the more I think about it. They want me to be more free with my mark making but with each suggestion another wall is being put up. Be free in these limits -a paradox.
True freedom happens in constraints. We find creative solutions for problems. We improvise to get out of routines. We change our mind because we see a better way. True freedom for me in art has come from thinking first, knowing where I want to go with a piece.
Freedom happens during the path we set ourself on. I only get lost without thoughts and direction. This is something I find to be true for myself.