Keeping your creativity alive has always been a challenge, but in the era of work from home, where the lines between work life and home life have blurred and where burnout and social disconnection are rising, creativity is at risk. We’ve asked some of the most creative folks we know for advice on how to keep one’s creativity alive.

Mark McKinney

I seem to have a built-in need to make things, and when I look back on my childhood, I was always making things which required some creativity. I liked to read and collect comic books, but I also wanted to make comic books, so I invented my own characters and story lines and then illustrated them. Same with sports cards – I collected baseball cards and bought the same packs of Topps cards that everyone else did, but had the urge to create my own and used pictures from newspapers or magazines to make cards for teams that Topps didn’t cover, such as my local college basketball team. This urge to make things has continued into adulthood with my art. Read More>>

Z Elliott

I feel as though I keep my creativity alive by pulling most of my inspiration from personal experiences, which can be both grounding and challenging. Reflecting on my own life allows me to create work that feels authentic and emotionally resonant, but it also requires a level of vulnerability that I’ve learned to embrace. I use self-reflection and introspection as a foundation for my art, and I try to write consistently. It’s not always realistic to do it every day, but I stay connected to the practice as often as I can. Read More>>

Lela Cocoros Goldstein

I’m not someone who is naturally brimming with ideas for my artwork. So I discipline myself by making sure I create something – however small – each day. I get inspiration from looking at other artwork, going through my books and images, thinking about color palettes, and listening to music. I also do some prompts and challenges that come from the collage community. Making a large number of small collages usually leads to doing a larger, more significant project. Read More>>

Abby First

I have always been what most would call a “creative”, but maintaining creativity is not easy. There was a rough patch where I was struggling with PPD and it felt like my marriage was falling apart, and honestly I was full of fear. It’s hard to be creative in that kind of mental place. I was really fortunate, I think, because even when I felt like I had so much to figure out on my own, my friends stepped in and helped me realize that the only way out was through, AND I didn’t have to go through it all on my own.  Read More>>

Dan Blick

I’ll go through periods where perhaps I’m feeling slightly creatively depleted and, when these strike, I’ll tend to attempt to ‘fill my cup’ by surrounding myself with creative acts or works. I’ll take myself to a museum or the movie theatre, a gallery or a show, and I’ll always keep a journal or notebook by my side to jot down ideas and thoughts as and when they come.  Read More>>

James Lester

Keeping my creativity alive has always been about staying curious, staying flexible, and finding new ways to connect with the world around me.

When I first discovered photography, it wasn’t because I had a grand career plan — it was a lifeline during one of the hardest times in my life. I had just been dropped from college due to a mix of undiagnosed health issues (which years later would be diagnosed as ulcerative colitis and ADHD) and the challenges of living with physical and mental health issues that I didn’t yet understand. I was unemployed, stressed, and feeling completely disconnected from any kind of purpose. Read More>>

KatieLynne Jackson

Things just come to me, and I act on them. The song a day wasn’t started because of online trends (I discovered later after starting that this was a ‘thing’), I just decided one day “hmmm, let’s try singing online every day, that’ll be fun!” which is why it started on a more or less random day in the middle of the year rather than at the start of the year or a month. With my art, “oohh, oohh, this is a cool idea, let’s make it”, and suddenly we have a patchwork book cover or something.  Read More>>

Rachel Chung

Sometimes, working in the creative industry can lead to burnout and a feeling of idea fatigue. However, I always try to keep an open mind, staying receptive to the world around me. I let new experiences, stories, and even everyday surroundings inspire me just like my genderless jewellery collection – REVOLT ELEGANTLY. This collection was inspired by the new generation started to challenge traditional gender stereotypes, I wanted to create pieces that are designed for everyone. Jewellery isn’t just for women. Read More>>

Jarrale Daniels

Wow, this is a great question. I feel like my creativity seems from my early childhood. I always had such a wild imagination and could keep myself entertained for hours upon hours. I would sit and think out stories with my wrestling action figures (I was and still am a big wrestling fan) and bring them to life. I’d eventually start writing out those ideas into short stories and then from there a love of writing and storytelling formed. That was just further strengthened by film as I started to get more into great films like Scarface, The Dark Knight, Memento, Moonlight, and countless others. So the way I keep that creativity alive is by letting my mind keep that inner child alive. Read More>>

Thomas Krause

I keep my creativity alive from the responses I get from my customers. My scuba diving and fishing experiences have endless paintings, I want to convey what I’ve seen to people, and bring the underwater world out in my paintings, for people that never get to see what I have. Read More>>

Damaris Alvarez

My favorite way to keep my creative blood pumping is listening to music. The sweet sounds invite me to focus on the lyrics and to imagine a visual story alongside it. Then I replicate the emotions and story that I envisioned on a digital canvas. It is a beautiful tale of creatives inspiring other creatives. There is a significance on who you surround yourself with in your daily life. I find myself blessed to have like minded individuals who inspire me and encourage my creative spirit everyday. Read More>>

Hua Ye

I keep my creativity alive by being curious about various topics, checking out other artists’ works, and appreciating the little scenes around me daily. All the elements that I could gather will transform into thumbnails and sketches and then become the foundation of my creativity. Read More>>

Renyi Qi

I’m always feeding my curiosity.
I read, I watch movies — the classics, the commercials, the weird ones. I also love TikTok where some creators are just wild in the best way.
But more than anything, I love talking to people. People from all walks of life, different backgrounds, different cultures. I love hearing about their joys, their fears, their weird little habits — just observing how they move through the world.
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HILLA SHAPIRA

For me, creativity is kept alive by staying open to the world around me. I believe that the ability to capture the world from an artistic perspective is a huge privilege—one that requires constant awareness of my surroundings. My point of view centers on the beauty of complexity, and I’m always looking for moments that reflect the aesthetic of the mundane—whether it’s the way people are spaced out on a subway platform, the structure and colors of an abandoned construction site, or the ever-changing tone of the sky at a particular hour. Read More>>

Sasha

Being a creative has always come naturally to me. I don’t think a day goes by without a new idea forming or a goal being written down for the future. Honestly, I believe that’s part of my purpose. I’ve always been a deep thinker…someone who sees beyond what’s right in front of them and imagines what could be. Read More>>

Camilla Monk

Curiosity, curiosity, curiosity. Nothing feeds my creativity and my drive to write like discovering new places, things, and concepts, and then asking questions about them.

I binge US, Canadian, and French news, fall into deep and bizarre Wikipedia rabbit holes, and subscribe to way too many newsletters on subjects that range from scientific news and Archeology to fringe conspiracy theories. Read More>>

Wei Vivian Lu

As much as I believe in constantly creating and pushing forward with my own projects, I also think it’s important to make time for experiencing the work of other artists. For me, that means reading andwatching different forms of storytelling. Since my main medium is visual storytelling—things like illustration, comics, and animation—I make it a habit to keep up with new films, TV series, books, and graphic novels. It’s both for enjoyment and a way to recharge creatively and stay inspired. Read More>>

Samantha

I pull from my own life. I actually keep a running note on my phone full of random ideas—some are half-baked, some are just one-liners, but they all come from little moments I notice day to day. I try to draw, design, or animate something each month that’s just for me. It usually involves a cartoon version of my husband and my dog. I love taking something small—usually funny or weird—and turning it into something other people might relate to. Read More>>

Angela Reid

I live for creativity, it’s what keeps life exciting and dreams alive! My background is training horses and performing with them nationally and internationally. Working and having a background in horse training and performing requires a creative mind. Every day and every performance is never the same, the horses decide how the day and performance will unfold. Sometimes a show or act won’t go as planned, and that’s where creativity takes the lead. You have to think outside the box, improv, and think of creative ways to capture the horses and audience’s attention on the spot. Read More>>

Chloe Tseng

Art has been a part of me ever since childhood. I was the kid who always carried around a sketchbook, doodling during free time and spending hours on school art projects. However, as I grew older and life got busier, there came a point where I noticed I wasn’t making as much time for my art, and I felt disconnected from that part of myself. I came to see that creativity is something that needs to be practiced regularly, or it fades.  Read More>>

Jordan Hansen

My creativity stays alive because it’s constantly evolving. I have so many artistic interests that I naturally cycle through them depending on the season of life I’m in. One month I might be completely immersed in card making and paper crafts, and the next I’m sewing, making epoxy tumblers, or decorating sugar cookies. Read More>>

Samuel Ojo

To me, creativity is the yin-yang balance between staying true to your individuality and pushing beyond your limits. I keep my creativity alive by remaining authentic, taking risks in my creative process, and constantly learning from others. Also, living in a city like New York fuels my creativity as well—there’s inspiration everywhere. From the countless creatives carving out their own paths to the spontaneous interactions you have on the street, the city always offers something new. Whenever I hit a creative slump and can’t find inspiration within, New York never fails to provide it for me. Read More>>

Jon & Ashley Scott

The creativity is kept alive by constantly researching, pushing boundaries and always on the look for what Inspires us, grabs our attention or even the most ridiculous things are taken and transformed into our crazy vision. We also challenge each other and talk out our ideas and they evolve with Generally a bit of both our visions. Read More>>

Diana McLean

Creativity is a spiritual practice for me. One of the ways I keep it alive is by dabbling in lots of forms of creative expression that are not writing, because writing is my primary form of creativity and a big part of my professional life, both as an author and as a minister. Some of the arts and crafts I enjoy as creative spiritual practices are needlework, collage, and painting dot mandalas. Read More>>

Ryo Endo

One way I keep my creativity alive is by continuously observing my daily surroundings and engaging in a cycle of input and output. I make a conscious effort to absorb things I encounter in everyday life, such as the small, interesting details in conversations with others, like a unique way someone phrases something or a subtle gesture they make.  Read More>>

Maddie + Patrick McLean

Creativity, for us, is part self-discipline and part inspiration. As full-time travel content creators, it’s easy to romanticize the idea that creativity just happens—like it’s waiting for you on the top of a cliff at sunrise or in a perfectly lit Italian alley. And sometimes, sure, it is. But most of the time? Creativity shows up because we do. Read More>>

Munus Shih

As someone working in open-source art and creative coding, my creativity is deeply tied to community. I’m constantly inspired by the contributions of others—whether it’s a beautiful sketch someone shares using p5.js or a thoughtful conversation in a GitHub issue thread. There’s always something to learn from how others approach things, and that keeps me going. Read More>>

Zachary Burnett

A lot of inspiration for me comes from being around other musicians. Creativity for myself comes and goes and there are days when I’ll try and write for hours and not come up with anything. Those days are discouraging, but being with my friends and other musicians always brings me right back. There’s an open mic here in College Station that a lot of us go to every week. Read More>>

Gia Ram

I keep my creativity alive with new experiences, different cultures, travelling and most importantly the people that surround me. I learn a lot from seeing how different people share their love and express themselves. I take it in, and make it into art. I also stay curious, constantly exploring new topics and ideas that fuel my work, and I love connecting with other artists to gain fresh perspectives. Read More>>

Miles Woodworth

Over the last five years, I’ve been building a new chapter of my life—diving into travel videography and photography alongside my partner, Raya, an incredibly talented photographer.

Traveling the world has done more than inspire my creativity—it’s opened my eyes and mind to the beauty of how others live, what they value, and what truly matters.

Backpacking for months at a time strips life down to the essentials. It challenges me to live with only what I can carry and forces me to stay sharp, adaptable, and present. Read More>>