When someone gives you creative freedom, don’t hand back the most normal thing possible.

Freedom makes people careful, which sounds backwards until you see the fear under it. With no instructions there is nothing to hide behind, so the safe move is guessing what they probably wanted and handing that back. What they wanted was you. Playing it normal wastes the rarest thing anyone will offer you, and it usually bores them.

Next time someone says do whatever you want, write down the version you would be excited to see yourself. Make that one. Keep the safe idea in a drawer as a backup you probably will not need.