Episode 085: Why Creativity Matters

Hello my dear creative soles. I hope you’re having a beautiful spring day…although where I am it is quite cold - I am bundled up and I have my little space heater on, so I can’t say it really feels like spring - but I have seen some crocuses in the last few days which is very exciting. In the meantime, I’m still wearing some pretty wintery socks - they’re cozy ones with evergreen trees on them - because, well, you gotta stay cozy when it’s cold out, even if you really wish that it was warm. 

But anyways. What I wanted to talk about today is: why creativity matters. I was recently interviewed on the podcast Creative Conversations with Hollis Citron, and one of the questions Hollis asked me during our conversation was: why does creativity matter? And I thought this was a really insightful and interesting question, and one that we haven’t fully explicitly addressed yet on the podcast. Of course, pieces of this have come up - but I wanted to dedicate an entire episode to it, because it’s an important topic that I think really is kind of the foundation of a lot of the things that I like to talk about. 

So, why does creativity matter? I believe it matters for many reasons and we’re probably not going to get into all of them today but I wanted to get into a couple. And one of the first reasons that I believe creativity matters is that I believe expressing our creativity benefits our well being. That’s kind of one of the foundational principles of this podcast, even back when Anna and I were doing it together, in case you’ve been listening that long - it was one of the key messages that we really intentionally decided that we wanted to share with our podcast community. 

Creativity is important for our well being because I think creativity is a way that we can express the things that are inside us that want to be expressed. And the way I think about it is that it’s almost like creativity is this force that wants to move through us - I think we’re meant to be creative. And I think when we don’t use that energy, it creates stagnation. In feng shui, we talk a lot about qi, meaning life force energy, and specifically the flow of qi in homes and spaces - and one of the big things that we look for in a space as practitioners is whether there is a healthy, free flow of qi, or whether there is stagnation. And where there is stagnation, we generally make adjustments, because stagnant energy is not supportive. Stagnant energy is what leads to blocks and challenges, while freely flowing energy leads to growth, nourishment, success, basically all the good things. 

Creativity, the way I see it, is kind of the opposite of stagnation. Because when we’re being creative we’re letting this force move through us to make something new or to combine things in a new way. Creativity is always moving, and movement is good for us: moving our bodies, getting out of our comfort zones in healthy ways, and being open to learning new ideas all lead to growth. And I don’t know about you, but I would much rather be in the energy of growth and flow than one of stuckness and stagnation. This doesn’t just apply to what you are putting on the page, so to speak, when it comes to your creative work - but in my experience, embracing creativity really spills over into other areas of life as well. It’s like the more creative I'm being in my art, in my poetry, the more creative I am in other areas of my life too. 

The other reason I think creativity is so important that I want to talk about today is that I really believe we are each part of this big web, and we’re each creating our own little pieces and threads that can all sort of weave together to create something bigger than us. I think we each have unique ways of experiencing the world and expressing ourselves, so each of our creativity comes out in our own unique way. And this is maybe sort of esoteric…but I believe that each of our voices and songs and poems and stories and art are all needed. Somebody out there needs to hear your lyrics or see your drawing to feel inspired or understood or not alone - because think about it: I’m guessing there are creative people in your life whose work has been really meaningful to you, whether they’re people you know in person or people you’ve been a fan of for a while. One person that comes to mind for me is Tove Jansson, who is a Finnish author and artist, whose books I LOVED as a kid. I read them all multiple times, and they are something I still go back to for comfort, and I feel like they’re just really embedded in my brain and my body at this point. They’ve sort of become a part of me and how I see the world if that makes sense. And there are plenty of other writers, artists, and musicians whose work has been really important to me in a similar way. 

So think about whose work has been meaningful to you. Is that person’s work meaningful to everybody? No, I’m guess not because that would be impossible, and I think sometimes when we get stuck in our creativity it’s because we want to either please everybody or be impactful to everybody and I don’t think we need to. That’s kind of a topic for another day. But if you think about that person whose work is meaningful to you, that person’s unique perspective and experience and artistic vision resonated with YOU and impacted YOUR life. And all of those different threads and impacting different people is what creates this beautiful web that I think connects all of us: we are all touching each other’s lives in unique and meaningful ways, and creating connections with different people, and essentially making the world a more beautiful, connected place through the things that we create and express. We are all together creating this holistic system - none of us exists on our own separate bubble away from other beings - whether that’s humans, animals, or plants. And again you don’t have to touch everybody with your work, even if your work inspires or uplifts or feels nourishing to one person - even if it’s your partner, or your kid, or your best friend - that’s part of your unique impact on the world. And we can only really get to our unique impact when we really tap into and embrace our own gifts and talents and quirks…so my question for you to ponder today is: what are your gifts and talents and quirks? And if you’re not really sure what they are, what’s one little clue? Some things you can ask yourself to get to that answer could be: What do you get excited about? What have you always wanted to try? What do you love learning about? What do you want to learn more about? What did you love to do as a kid? 

So I think that all of those things can be things that give us a little bit more clarity on maybe a next step even if we don’t have the full picture and I think that’s ok. I think another thing that gets people stuck sometimes, myself included, is that we really want to know the full vision the whole plan the whole picture before we take the first step and I don’t think that’s necessary nor is it really helpful because we don’t know what the end is gonna bring a lot of the time.

Whew! I feel like I was just on my little soapbox for a while. But I really do feel strongly about this! And if this resonates with you, I invite you to schedule a free coaching call with me where we can dig into this more. Because I promise you, you have something beautiful and unique and important to share with the world and I’m excited for you to make that thing. I’d love to be your artistic exploring buddy as you navigate your creative journey. I was on a call with somebody recently and they were feeling a little unclear on the next steps for a project they were working on - and after we talked for a little while, they said something like, “wow! I have so much clarity after talking to you!” And the thing that was kind of funny to me about that was that basically, I was just asking questions. And I feel like this tends to happen, because the truth is that you know the answers you’re looking for - but sometimes it can be really helpful to have a guide to help you find those answers within yourself. And p.s. This is not a sales call or a “discovery” call - I decided not to do those in my business, because I don’t like them! So it’s really just a chance for us to connect and dig into your creativity and your art. 

And what I’d really love to do on this call is to help you find some clarity and at least one action step to help you move forward towards deeper creativity, a more artistic life, and making the kind of art that you want to make. Because the world needs your art. So if you’re interested in scheduling a call, head to the link in the show notes - and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at hello@thephilosophersstem.com or send me a DM on Instagram @thephilosophersstem. 

Thank you SO much for listening, my dear creative soles. I am so grateful you’re here, I’m excited to talk to you again soon, and I hope that you remember in the meantime - to never wear boring socks.