Dear Creativity,
It’s been a while since I last wrote you, but you have been on my mind. Towards the end of 2024, I embarked on a journey to help people engage more with their creativity.
I offered several workshops to help people (re)connect to their creativity.
I started, stopped, and started again a free community space for adults to play and explore their creativity in a judgment-free environment with other wannabe creatives.
I started a Creativity Social Club, which offers monthly creative workshops, office hours, and a time to celebrate creative achievements.
I visited six craft fairs and had extended conversations with 23 vendors. I was blown away and inspired by their stories of uncovering their passions and taking risks to monetize their artistry and share it with the world. Their courage to take a chance on themselves to sell what was once a personal creative pursuit was a story that lingered in my heart and mind for days.
I had conversation up on conversation with many a wannabe creative trying to figure out how to message the importance of creativity and play to my audience.
I achieved so much dear Creativity and yet I feel the sting of disappointment because after a couple of years of pursuing a business as an innovation coach and creativity advocate, not many people are walking through my door, free or paid. I am feeling a bit stuck in a rut and don’t quite know where to turn next.
I have to wonder, where am I going wrong? Creativity is essential to my growth as a professional, my well-being to stay mentally sharp, and my elixir that brings me joy and I want others to experience that same joy and happy feelings that play and curiosity bring me daily.
So, today I have to wonder…
How might we help busy professionals to prioritize and cultivate their creativity?
I have gone through several target audience descriptions and many an elevator pitch and for some reason today, after several meetings and conversations it clicked most simply.
I help busy professionals prioritize their creativity so they can grow and bask in their zones of genius and make their ideas take flight.
This is where I need your help. How do I communicate this to my audience so it speaks to their pain and they feel an urgency to make the process of creation a priority? As I have told my students time and time again, it is about the journey, not the destination or end result. The journey is where the fun, learning, and growth happen to help you make better decisions about your next steps.
Creativity, I know you understand better than anyone that creativity isn’t just about making art or crafting beautiful things – it’s about lighting up those neural pathways that help us see possibilities where others see dead ends. It’s about finding joy in the process of discovery and learning to trust our instincts again.
Perhaps I’ve been trying too hard to sell creativity as a solution when I should be sharing it as a story – my story, the vendors’ stories, the stories of professionals who found their way back to their creative selves. Maybe the urgency isn’t something I need to manufacture, but rather something I need to reveal through these lived experiences of transformation.
I remember how you found me when I was stuck in overwhelm, the daily grind, and sadness of not tapping into my creative passions in my job and how you helped me rediscover the magic of asking “What if?” and the pleasure of getting lost in the flow of creation every day that I spent in a community makerspace amongst other creatives. That’s the gift I want to share – not as a consultant selling services, but as a guide who’s walked this path and knows the treasure that awaits.
Perhaps my next step isn’t to push harder or craft yet another perfect pitch but to simply open my door wider and share more authentically about the joy and growth I’ve witnessed in this journey. To tell the stories of those craft fair vendors who leaped, of the professionals who found their spark again, and yes, even of my stumbles and victories along the way.
Will you help me hold onto this clarity? And remember that the best way to help others prioritize creativity is to show them what it looks like when someone does.
And yes, I know you’ll remind me that this too is part of the creative process – this questioning, this searching, this finding of new paths. Thank you for always being there to remind me, my friend.
Innovatively yours,
Dr. Abigail
