Some people fly by the seats of their pants constantly and love navigating through life that way. Ideas like last-minute dinner plans, jaunts to the movie theater, or an unplanned weekend road trip flow through their minds like a constant river stream. I think that’s fine if you have enough free time to randomly throw new things into the mix, but I am the exact opposite. It’s not that I am incapable of being spontaneous, but with the packed schedule I have, I can’t just drop everything and do something unplanned at the last minute.

Here’s the extent of my spontaneity. If, by some odd and rare chance, I have a day or weekend which is not jam-packed, and someone contacts me to see if I can get together for a movie, dinner or other outing, I still need at least a day’s notice so that I can schedule my gym time and make sure that any random chores or errands I might have been planning to do get moved to another time or day. If it’s a weekend road trip or other getaway, I will never be available on a moment’s notice. I simply never have more than one free day on a weekend. As a matter of fact, I cannot fathom the idea of having an entire weekend free and wide open unless I move heaven and earth to make such a thing occur!

I can’t help but feel that there are two strong correlations at work when it comes to living spontaneously. First off, I have noticed that my friends who are very spontaneous on a consistent basis have creative careers and VERY flexible schedules which give them the freedom to move things around. In many cases they can work from home or, in some cases, completely take off from work. The other thing that I have noticed is that my more spontaneous friends tend to have attention deficit disorder, and are accustomed to bouncing around mentally. Both of these correlations are beginning to make me think that creative brilliance and attention deficit disorder go hand in hand.

Difficulties arise when a spontaneous spirit becomes shackled by a rigid schedule. Even the most spontaneous person, provided that person is responsible, will not be able to let loose and do things at the last minute if he or she has a crazy work schedule. It’s quite possible that my spontaneous energy got squashed many years ago when I began medical school, but I am more inclined to believe that I have always been more organized and regimented, and have sought the structure which defines my daily life. We create the environments in which we live.

Another thing I have noticed personally is that when I do something spontaneous, there are certain harsh critics in my life who will always question my decisions and make me feel as if I have made a terrible mistake by allowing myself to get a small taste of personal freedom. It has been a challenge to stand strong and support my beliefs when I make a decision which seems to be spontaneous or random to these critics. After all, I rarely change the rhythm of my life, and I think such a habit is in some respect a bit damaging to my spirit. My sense of wonder and fun often gets squashed by all of my career responsibilities and other obligations which keep me locked into a certain predictability.

Probably the most spontaneous thing I have done this year is to decide to see a movie by myself, and it was one of the most enjoyable days of the year. I had made a snap decision on a Saturday around noon to see a film I very much wanted to see which had just been released (“Grand Budapest Hotel”). I checked showtimes, finished my workout, went home to shower and change, then two hours later, was sitting in a movie theater by myself. Instead of waiting to schedule the activity into my busy schedule, I had just said, “screw it” and reworked my schedule to accommodate a fun two hour date with myself.

In conclusion, I believe that a certain amount of spontaneity, especially when added to a particularly demanding schedule, is healthy. I also think the “birds of a feather” concept applies when it comes to degrees of spontaneity. Spontaneous people should hang out with each other, while individuals who are more regimented would be better off scheduling outings with each other. Otherwise, a spontaneous person could get extremely frustrated, while the more rigid person would only become anxious with the last minute ideas a spontaneous person always seems to present.