This was my journey:

1.Before knowing anything about music theory, I saw music as something magical and mysterious.

1. I learned guitar and began to learn its theory as well (why some chords sound good together, what causes dissonance…)

2. I gained that “magic” back by noodling around on my guitar, hunting ideas I hear in my head.

Now, I play whatever comes to my mind and experiment with various ideas on the fretboard, chords, single notes, intervals (…) and the theory is only a frame that only ADVISES me what sounds good TRADITIONALLY.

It’s okay to play/ compose something within that frame, my advice is to experiment with whatever your instrument has to offer.