When we hear or think of the word “creative”, we often picture artists, musicians, writers, or designers. However, creativity is not confined to a canvas, nor is it limited to a job title or a specific talent. Instead, creativity is a mindset, a perspective, and a way of engaging with the world.
You don’t need to be an artist to live creatively, you just have to be aware enough to notice beauty, follow your curiosity, and make choices that reflect who you truly are.
What Creativity Really Is
Creativity is more than making things.
It’s about how you solve problems, communicate, decorate a room, choose an outfit, serve a meal, or raise a child.
Creativity is not reserved for the “gifted”; it belongs to anyone willing to live with intention.
If you’ve ever thought of a better way to do something, combined ideas from two places to make something new, or made a moment more meaningful with your presence, you were being creative.
Where It Became Real
There was a time when I didn’t see myself as “creative enough.” Even as a designer, I sometimes felt confined by industry expectations, only associating creativity with outputs, aesthetics, and applause. But over time, I started noticing something else:
- The way I restructured my day was creative.
- The way I navigated parenting challenges with softness was creative.
- Even how I chose to dress, not to impress, but to express, was an act of quiet creativity.
Creativity stopped being about what I produced; it became about how I showed up in small ways every day.
I’ve always been handy, you know, the kind of person who fixes things at home.
From electrical faults to gas cookers, I’ve taken apart and repaired more things than I can count.
For a long time, I only saw creativity in my design work and not in these everyday skills.
People would often say to me, “Oh, you’re so creative,” especially my wife. But I still viewed it through a narrow lens until one day, when I had to completely open up and fix a faulty gas cooker.
When I was done, Hannah, my wife’s cousin, looked at me and asked,
“How did you even know that’s how you’d fix it?”
As I began explaining the process to her, something shifted. It dawned on me: This is creativity, too.
Your creativity may not manifest in fixing cookers or handling electricity, but whenever you problem- solve, adapt, or build something from scratch, you’re not merely functioning; you’re creating.
Everyday Creative Living
- Saying something differently so it’s truly heard
- Preparing a meal with love, not perfection
- Rearranging a space to reflect calm
- Solving a problem with humour or empathy
- Picking an outfit that makes you feel bold, not blended
The most creative people I know are often not in the arts.
They’re problem-solvers. Parents. Teachers. Entrepreneurs.
They turn the ordinary into something meaningful.
A Thought On Simplicity
In my book, Simplicity: The Genius of Less, I shared how design becomes powerful when we remove the unnecessary, and the same principle applies to creativity.
You don’t need to “add more” to be creative; sometimes, all you need is to see more clearly to bring intention to what already exists.
When you simplify, you see space, and when there’s space, creativity can flow in.
Think about this: what if your creativity is not elusive but already in motion, reflected in your rhythm, choices, and voice? Perhaps you are more creative than you realize. Maybe it’s not about engaging in more creative activities, but about recognizing that you are already expressing creativity.
Let me leave you with this thought.
You don’t have to be an artist to live creatively; you just need to stop believing that creativity is about performance.
Creativity is how you love, see, choose and how you live.
I want you to know that when you live creatively, even quietly, you make the ordinary shine.
From scattered notes to quiet reflections, this is my creative space.
