One Family Ruined Creativity (And We're Still Paying For It)
On the Renaissance myth that made us think creativity belongs to an elite few — and why reclaiming it matters now more than ever.
Dear friend,
What makes somebody a creative?
When I first met Laura Eigel six years ago, she told me she was not a writer.
She was interested in joining my Write Your Friggin Book Already® program, but she was not a writer. She’d made books for friends as a kid and kept journals her whole life, but she was not a writer.
Two books out in the world now, and I think she is finally calling herself a writer.
Recently, my friend Max decided to join my Creative Life Blueprint coaching program (we start April 21 - want to join us?! Reply and I’ll send you the deets!).
When we first talked about it, he said, “I want to join, but I’m not really a creative.”
Max has fabulous fashion with a unique take on masc queer style. He’s a content creator that’s gone viral multiple times. He’s built a successful business and whittles wood for fun.
But he didn’t see himself as a creative.
What is it about the title “creative” that makes us so hesitant to claim ourselves as one?
It is not like the creativity is only accessible to an elite few. You can be a writer with a pen and paper. You can be an artist with things that you find in your home. Everybody is a content creator these days on the internet.
So why do we have this idea that only certain people get to call themselves creatives?
Elizabeth Gilbert has a famous Ted Talk on the concept of the genius that tries to answer this. It’s worth watching the whole thing but the general idea is that during the Renaissance we went from:
Anyone could be greeted by creative genius or could commune with the muses anytime.
to
One person is deemed a genius and all of us work to uphold that person’s genius.
It also not-so-coincidentally came around the time that the de Medici family was trying to hyper-monetize art and use capitalism and Catholicism to rule the world.
We talk about this time period as a beautiful period of creativity and it was also a time of massive racism, sexism, and depression. They glorified and idolized certain men like Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello – and no those aren’t just Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – while the laborers who made the art were treated as disposable.
Sound familiar?
We still live in the oppressive system the de Medici family made.
Today I want to encourage you to break free from it.
Right now, right here, I want you to embrace the term “creative” for yourself.
If you’re fighting with me on this, think about the last time you made a meal but sprinkled a little extra on top for flourish.
Or what about a time you added a pop of color to an outfit, or went all black as an expressive choice?
Do you have a kid in your life? Whether you birthed them or not, you’re helping to mold and shape their existence.
Picked out a new bedspread? That’s a creative choice.
Almost everything in our life requires creativity.
To be human is to create. And to create is to tap into your humanity.
And damn if we can’t all use more humanity right now in the world.
Being a creative has saved my life.
As a queer, fat, neurodiverse farmer’s daughter growing up in a small, conservative town, I had no positive images of people like me thriving in life.
Joy was my armor and creativity was my path out.
There wasn’t a reality around me where a girl like me got to grow up to be a world-traveling, joyful, successful author, filmmaker, and business owner. I had to create that vision for myself.
All the positive changes in the world – all the art, all the activism, all the technology, everything – only exist because someone was bold enough to be a creative.
Right now, we desperately need more creative energy. Not just for our own lives, but for the good of us all.
We need to make art.
We need to tell our stories.
We need to design positive futures.
I don’t have all of the answers, but I do have this six-step ritual that I’ve used time and again to reset my life to be a more boldly creative one.
And I’m sharing it with you in two ways:
I’ve outlined the full thing for free in this Substack post.
I’m offering a one-time only, small group coaching program to walk you through the process. It’s seven weeks long, and we start April 21. Interested? Reply to this message and I’ll send you the details.
I’m offering both of these options – the free self-study and the paid support – because I truly believe in the power of creativity to get us out of this overwhelmingly challenging time the world is living in right now.
I want to share the resources and tools I have with you, so you can go off and share them with others, so together we can create a more joyful, empathetic, and empowered world.
If my Creative Life Blueprint coaching program sounds intriguing to you, reply and I’ll help you decide if it’s the right fit.
At the very least, I hope this post inspired you to take a little step – just one little step is all you have to do! – towards embracing a boldly creative life for yourself.
Because the world needs our stories now more than ever.
With love,
Lauren
P.S. Comment below and let me know how you’re adding creativity to your life right now. We could all use some inspiration. <3