Why Creativity Isn’t Just for Artists, Writers and Designers

Lately I’ve been thinking about creativity a little differently.

As many of you know, I’m currently in school studying clinical Ayurveda. It’s a wonderful experience, but it’s also quite challenging and takes a lot of time and focus.

Because of that, I’ve been more selective about my illustration work. I’m still illustrating (three books this year! Don’t worry — they’re well paced.) But overall I’m taking on fewer projects so I can make space for my studies.

At first, this felt a little strange.

Here I am talking to you about creativity, and yet I’m not working as intensely as an artist as I was before.

For a moment I had terrible imposter syndrome and wondered:

Am I even allowed to talk about creativity right now?

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized something interesting.

Creativity hasn’t gone anywhere.
It’s just showing up in different places.

This got me thinking… for most of human history, creativity wasn’t something separate from daily life. People had to constantly adapt, solve problems, and make things with whatever was around them.

They cooked.
Built things.
Told stories.
Raised children.
Figured things out as they went.

All of that required imagination and ingenuity.

Creativity wasn’t something special. It was simply part of being human.

Somewhere along the way, we drew a line in the sand. Creativity became something you either had or you didn’t. Something reserved for artists, writers, and designers.

But that’s not really how it works. Creativity is not meant to be so limited.

I think creativity is simply the ability to notice, imagine, and shape something new.

And I’m seeing it show up differently for me right now — in the way I’m studying, how I’m presenting this new work to you, how I approach problems, in conversations, and in learning to think through the lens of Ayurveda.

I’m still deeply creative.

It just doesn’t always look like paint on paper.

And that might be how you experience it too.

Maybe you are an artist. Or maybe your creativity expresses itself in the way you solve problems at work, the way you parent, or when you cook or build something new in your life.

This work was never just about becoming more creative as artists.

It’s really about returning to our natural state as humans.

And it all comes down to this: When we’re balanced — when digestion steadies, sleep improves, and the nervous system settles — something interesting happens.

Curiosity returns.
Ideas come more easily.
Creative thinking feels natural again.

It’s almost like we were born this way. :)