On Creativity

What I’ve learned this year

Dolce Far Niente (1880) by John William Waterhouse

“No rose without a thorn. But many a thorn without a rose.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

This year has been pivotal for me in understanding how creativity works, and I hope that by sharing some insights, I can be helpful to others.

It’s not always clear whether creativity is a skill that can be developed or an innate aptitude we’re born with. But one thing has become clear to me—it’s essential for everyone, not just for artists or writers. Creativity shapes how we solve problems, adapt to challenges, and find meaning in our lives. It’s just as vital for business leaders navigating complex decisions as it is for homemakers finding inventive ways to manage their households.

However, staying creative—and nurturing that ability—is no easy task. It requires immense dedication, curiosity, and resilience. More than a fleeting spark, creativity is an attitude and mentality—a way of seeing the world not as it is but as it could be. It thrives in environments that allow exploration, embrace uncertainty, and leave room for imperfection. And while the process may at times feel elusive, there are ways to invite it in.

First, understanding who you are and being at peace with it is key. We live in a world saturated with distractions, endless entertainment, and, increasingly, mind-altering substances that have been dangerously normalized. In such an environment, it becomes difficult to separate what we truly need from what we merely want or momentarily desire. But, these subtle distinctions are crucial when defining our goals, because what works for others may not align with who we are or what we genuinely seek.

Recognizing that our DNA is unique—a once-in-a-million-years miracle—makes it easier to accept that we don’t need to chase what others aspire to be or have. In a world that often promotes a “one-size-fits-all” approach, we should aim for something more personalized. We should always go for the customized. Only then can we declutter our minds from the unnecessary noise. In other words, as Oscar Wilde said: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” After all, creativity can’t flourish in groupthink.

Second, at some point, many of us come to a realization that reshapes how we see the world and our place within it. One truth that often emerges is that our surroundings matter. The people we keep close and the environments we cultivate can either nourish our growth or quietly erode it. It’s not about seeking validation or admiration but about being in spaces where we’re valued for who we truly are—where what we bring is recognized not as decoration but as substance.

This isn’t the usual advice to seek positivity, gravitate toward “positive people,” or align with successful ones. Such prescriptions often reduce human worth to performance, dismissing those who wrestle with life’s complexities as burdens. It’s about being around people who make you feel comfortable. Simple as.

For those whose lives are bound to the arts, writing, nature, philosophy, or quiet introspection, the world can feel dissonant. To find beauty in details others overlook—patterns in a painting, meaning in a metaphor, or echoes in a melody—is to risk being misunderstood. And misunderstanding isolates.

It’s easy, then, to retreat. To suppress what stirs the soul and settle for safer conversations. To smooth the edges of thought until they no longer cut or question. The silence that follows may look like peace, but it is the peace of erosion—the self fading, not thriving, to avoid friction.

This surrender comes at a cost. It leads to stagnation—the creative mind dulled, the questioning spirit muted. Anxiety and restlessness creep in, symptoms of a deeper misalignment. Schopenhauer captured this loss when he wrote: “We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.”¹

Creativity demands something more. It calls for the courage to seek connections that don’t dilute but deepen—to surround oneself with those who amplify rather than diminish. Equally, it requires the strength to let go of connections that drain.

Third, creativity begins with the courage to show up—to create, speak, and reveal. To find resonance, one must first be unafraid to resonate. Pretending otherwise is to starve what nourishes the mind. And no one survives long on starvation and spiritual hunger.

Creativity cannot thrive—let alone survive—without being tested, expressed, and brought into the tangible world. It demands to be written, painted, built, and shaped into form. To leave ideas swirling in the mind is to let them wither. In fact, I’d argue it’s the surest way to kill creativity. Ideas can’t endure in the haze of thought; they need paper, ink, and sweat to come alive.

In this regard, perfectionism often stands in the way of creativity, acting as a self-imposed paralysis—a refusal to test ideas out of fear that they must be flawless to succeed. This mindset is deeply misleading. Perfection isn’t and should never be a starting point; it’s something that can only be approached through experimentation and iteration. Creativity demands movement, not meticulous hesitation. Ideas must be tried, stretched, and reshaped before their potential can even begin to emerge.

Overall, after a few years of trying to figure out how to stay creative, one lesson stands out—stop bending to fit. Stop dulling edges and masking passion just to blend into the ordinary. Creativity dies in the pursuit of sameness, suffocated by the need to please.

The world doesn’t need more echoes of what already exists. It needs voices willing to disrupt the monotony. Creativity isn’t about fitting in—it’s about daring to try, to transgress, and to see where the unfamiliar might lead.

1. Attributed to Arthur Schopenhauer in Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources(1899) by James Wood, p. 624