RECONNECT WITH YOUR
CREATIVITY

Most of us reach adulthood convinced we're not creative. We've been taught that "being creative" is intertwined with a certain skill level, vocation, or perceived success. We hear the word and think of renowned artists, praised peers, or maybe a sibling who seemed to have that elusive gift.

If we're lucky, we get to enjoy a few years of freedom within the realms of imagination and play.

As children, our innate creativity is encouraged. Every scribble of crayon and smattering of paint is celebrated, every original song and living room theatre production is genius. Unfortunately, genius or not, this celebration of creativity tends to be stamped with an expiration date.

The soul crushing day inevitably arrives when we are told to grow up and be realistic.

In hindsight, I see this as a protective mechanism deployed by the adults in our lives. The reality they were warning us about - the heartbreak they were preparing us for - is the colonized, capitalistic world we would inevitably have to survive in.

A world that views everything through a lens of productivity and material success.

That quantifies passion, measures outcomes, and speaks in dollars.

It doesn't care about creativity unless that creativity is going to make it money.

And so we begin to distance ourselves from that integral, innermost part of who we are. Some of us try to hold on to it. Few of us succeed. Most find ourselves talking about it in past tense.

"When I was a child I used to...I loved...I enjoyed...I explored...I dreamed."

At some point, we leave that child in a dark corner somewhere to fend for itself after being told it was time to go grow up and be realistic.

The good news? That child is a survivor. They're still patiently waiting in the dark corner for you.

They're still a part of you.