Kurt, thank you for posting here specially since you are someone who choose a different path than most other answers.
The more I think about it the more 2 systems seem to support my creativity - one is the Leica M system since (for some reason) it just feels very intuitive to me, I dont have to think much, it just works, I know the system very well (using it for 20 years), I know how an image looks when I take it with the 35mm , or how it looks when I take it with 90 or with 21mm.
Its the system which lets me just photograph what I see and feel.
The 2nd system is MF.. it is not that simple (for me) but it forces and encourages me to take more time, to think about compostion etc. The images are more tecnical and less intuitive but again- it forces me to take time.
The third system I own (Nikon DSLR) just works-fast and reliable, but I feel neither as free as I do with the Leica M nor as creative when I use MF.
Its less emotional than shooting with the Leica M or the MF gear. The DSLR is very reliable though. I shot the wedding of my best friend and the Nikon felt like a life insurance when I used it. At no moment I had doubts to not get good images.
Personally I have figured out several different kinds of photography which interest me..
1) today life is fast and a lot of change.. photography allows me to catch moments of my life and bring them back to my mind. Looking at a smile of my daughter on an image allows me to remember the moment in the past and bringing it back to the presence and making me happy for a second time.
2) I realized that people enjoy to get images showing them or images from their friends/family. Example: go to a restaurant, have fun with the waiter, take some images. I bring them a print next day and I get a smile (and maybe a free beer) ...so dont document the momentd just for myself but also for others
3) photography allows to share beautifull or intersting sights/light/places with other people. They say 1 image can tell more than 1000 words and it allows to share with other people what you have seen
4) Photography forces me to feel and see my surrounding and environment more active and intensive.
5) besides all that - as a mechanical engineer I am also having fun with the equipment/technical side of photography.
Now I dont remember why I wrote all this but I will post it anyways...
Good Night, Tom