The moment I realized I was a “creative” wasn’t while standing in front of a canvas with gold-textured paint. Even though I’ve often filled my time with creative pursuits—writing hundred of thousands of words in the last decade, trying my hand at poetry, playing a violin, falling in love with a messy paint session—I’d be the last person to dub myself creative.

No, the moment I realized I was creative was the moment I realized that we are all creative. Me, you, that weird neighbor across the street, the bag lady on the corner. Every single one of us has the potential to create. This lightening awareness came in Bali while visiting one of my favorite healers this side of the Milky Way. “Creativity isn’t about art my dear,” he chuckled. “It’s about creating.”

Creatinggggg. The act, not the outcome, is what summons creativity into our lives. We can create love. And humans. We can create ideas. And great works. We can create community and shared truth. We can create moments… moments that make up the lifetime of our legacy. 

I was asked recently where I love to write and what inspires me. It’s funny because while I love an open-air cafe by the beach on my favorite Indonesian island, I can also get into just as much flow cross-legged on my couch with Vitamin String Quartet blasting in the background. Because for as long as I can remember, I haven’t given my creativity the choice. Gotta write, regardless.

And that’s the mindset I think so many of us get wrong about creating, that we need to wait for the “inspiration” to hit. It’s gotta be right. It’s gotta be the perfect time. If you wait for that, though, you’ll never get there. Creating will feel like something only the gods of inspiration can grant. But it’s not true.

To be a creative person, you simply need to show up no matter what. 

Creativity demands that you step to the plate to offer your truth. It asks that you sit down and do something, anything, even if you’re not feeling it. Creativity asks that you don’t judge what comes out. And that you understand some creations will be gold and others shit. Creativity is the process, not the outcome.

Creative people? They show up. They create. So, if you want to be more creative that’s all you really have to do. Quiet the resistance in your mind and step up and start creating anything.