What It Really Means to Nurture Creativity (Even If You’re Not an Artist)

Let’s be honest: the word “creative” has been boxed in.

You hear it and think of someone covered in paint, sculpting clay, or making mood boards at a coffee shop with a sketchbook and a latte.

You either belong to that world or you don’t. You’re either an “artist”… or just someone who buys notebooks and never uses them.

But here’s the truth:

Creativity is not a personality type. It’s a life force.

And you don’t have to be an artist to nurture it.

Creativity shows up when…

• A parent invents a game during a long wait at the doctor’s office.

• A teacher turns a boring lesson into a story.

• A friend writes the perfect, heartfelt text.

• A tired person rearranges their living room to feel new again.

• A child builds a blanket fort and calls it “home.”

Creativity is the instinct to shape, to express, to solve, to connect. It’s the bridge between imagination and action.

And every time you honor it in yourself or in someone else, you strengthen it.

Nurturing creativity looks like…

• Leaving space for mess and wonder

• Valuing process over perfection

• Asking “what if?” more than “what should?”

• Giving your child (or your inner child) permission to try without winning

• Protecting the sacred act of making — whether it’s muffins, music, or meaning

Why it matters

When we shrink creativity into something only “gifted people” have, we rob ourselves of magic.

But when we nurture it in our kids, our students, our relationships, our own inner world, we expand possibility.

Feeling Rusty? Here Are 5 Ways to Nurture Your Creativity:

1. Try Morning Pages
   Write three pages every morning — unfiltered, unedited, just whatever comes. It clears the static and makes room for ideas.

2. Make Something Ugly on Purpose
   Draw badly. Write nonsense. Make the worst poem ever. Taking the pressure off “good” lets your creativity stretch without fear.

3. Switch Up Your Routine
   Take a different route to work. Cook something new. Rearranging your surroundings or habits helps shake loose fresh thoughts.

4. Play Like a Kid
   Finger paint. Build a Lego tower. Lie in the grass and cloud-watch. Play isn’t just a memory — it’s a practice.

5. Start a “What If?” Jar
   Keep a jar or list of what-if ideas. What if animals had dreams? What if trees could talk? It’s a playground for your mind.

Bonus Creativity Boost*: Sing-Talk Your Thoughts

Next time a song comes on in the car, try this playful challenge: take whatever you’re thinking or talking about, and sing it to the rhythm and mood of the music — like you’re riffing real life into a soundtrack. It’s goofy, spontaneous, and oddly brilliant for stretching your creative muscles. (True story: I used to do this while dating my husband. Now he does it more than I do.)

You are more creative than you think.

And the world needs what only you can make of it.