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How do we keep feeling in touch with our inner creativity? How do we stay creative in the world of AI?

Creativity is alive. You can't force it. There are days where you won't feel creative. And those days are actually the most important! It's the quiet moments in life, the moments of rest, of introspection, of "not feeling creative"... that allow us to nurture creativity!

No one "feels" creative all the time. You can't be creative without living life. Touching grass. Hanging out with friends. Listening to a new song that makes you feel something. Reading a book. Going to a local pop-up shop. These things will feed your creativity. And you'll start to see that creativity lives in every aspect of our lives.

And although you don't feel creative all the time, I'd argue that you are being creative all the time!

Choosing a slightly different route on your usual walk.
Rearranging your room on a whim.
Finding funny shapes in the clouds.
Changing out your phone's wallpaper.
Asking your friends a random question.
Writing a note on your hand because you have no paper.
Deciding to add some cinnamon to your recipe.
Using the closest thing to you as a substitute bookmark when reading.
Trying to swap out some of your streaming with physical media.

Once you understand that creativity is much more than the moments where you sit down to "intentionally be creative", it starts to become second nature. You stop thinking about it. You stop worrying about it. You learn to be more present in every moment of your day and to let the creativity ebb and flow. Let it direct you. Be open to it.

And live your life! Soak in every moment. Learn from all of the creativity around you. You're surrounded by thousands of conscious and subconscious creative decisions. The way your neighborhood is set up. The color of the walls at your post office. The way plants curve towards light in remarkable ways. The way your grandma tells you a story. The arrangement of shelves at your supermarket. The bumper stickers on a car driving by. The way the barista makes your drink at the coffee shop. The funky outfit of someone at that same coffee shop. The sing-songy way your best friend says "hello" to you over the phone.

Once you open yourself up to experience creativity in all its wonderful possibilities and its omnipresence, it'll jump out at you. You won't have to force it. You just need to give it time. And be there, with open arms, waiting and ready to receive it. And it'll be a gift.

I wanted to share Mike Monteiro's talk How to Draw an Orange. There is so much wisdom in it, and so much of it relates to creativity. Mike reminds us that we all drew when we were kids. And if you ask a kid whether they can draw, whether they're creative - you'll get an resounding YES, no hesitation whatsoever.

But society slowly makes us feel more self-conscious about creating, especially if we can't make money off of that creativity. We are told that we're not good enough.

Screw being "good enough"! As Mike says, it's about being human. It's about wanting to leave a mark on the world. To say, hey, I'm here, and I want to take up space. And if you make mistakes, if you're "slow" - that's human too. Being creative is how we announce ourselves. Tell the world that we're here, that we're capable.

We're being taught that we're not as competent as we thought we were. As creative as we thought we were. We’re taught that we’re not as capable as machines built on our stolen work. The success of the AI industry relies on convincing people that they're inadequate. And what is that doing to us?

We're believing it. We're accepting the narrative. We're actively harming our creativity whenever we do so, whenever we offload creativity, struggle, and thinking to these machines.

To be creative is to try to communicate something. To want to leave your mark on the world.

So create. Build. Play. Try out a new hobby. Who cares if you're "not good enough"? Your creativity just needs to help you feel alive. Remind you that you're permitted to take up space.

Don't let go of your creativity. Your autonomy. Your cognition. Don't start with AI. Let the blank page, the empty canvas, the fresh file invite you in. Give yourself a chance to tap into the inner creativity you already have.

We learn to become more creative through struggle. Through "sucking" at something. Don't rob yourself of that chance by offloading that struggle. By offloading creativity. By offloading patience.

Surround yourself with creative people. Open yourself up to the creativity that surrounds your every day. Give yourself the grace to rest and grow and pause. Let yourself learn by doing. Be curious about everything around you.

Give yourself a fair shot at being creative. At being intentional.

And creativity will jump out at you.

I'd love to hear how you've been feeling creative lately. What new creative pursuits are you excited about? Comment below or shoot me an email <3

☕️ Let's continue making this a conversation! Please send questions, topic ideas, thoughts, and book/video/music recs to howkind@mateusdasilva.com :-)

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