Dear Creativity, There’s no shortage of problems to solve in our lives, but the paths we take to find solutions are many and varied. I’ve noticed that the difference between the masses and creators/innovators often comes down to a choice: whether we dance around a problem… or face it head-on and ask for help. Last year, a simple Kickstarter ad stirred something in me. It spotlighted a problem I had been quietly tolerating for years, working on the road with only a small laptop screen. You...
2 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, I’m almost a little ashamed that it took me eight months to complete this project.And at the same time, I’m deeply proud that I did. Since I was a child, I have been inspired by my mother’s ability to create beautiful things with crochet: quilts, doilies, bathroom covers, tablecloths, and dresses. Her skill level was extraordinary. She could look at a finished piece and figure out how to replicate it on her own. That’s how deeply she had mastered the craft. When she was...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, Last month, I stumbled upon a praying mantis on my morning walk. It placed itself on the path of the walkway of my apartment complex as I began my journey. It was large, green, completely still, and alert against the gray pavement beneath it. In a world rushing past, it felt almost out of place. I remember wondering how many people would walk right by without noticing. I almost did too. But something made me stop. I’ve been carrying that moment with me ever since. The new...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, I spent the past week in Austin for my job. This was my fourth year visiting this city to run programs in collaboration with a school. It’s always a busy time: setting up rooms, wrangling technology, fine-tuning curriculum systems, and hosting volunteers. I fall into familiar routines each time I’m there, even though it’s not home. And yet, I’m always surprised by how you show up when I’m in a city that isn’t mine. You’re there in the different landscape filled with murals...
23 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, For most people, the new year marks a fresh start, with big goals to achieve, new habits to form, and old ones to release. And yet, it isn’t lost on me that we can begin again any time we choose. It’s winter here in California, and as I walked by bundled in a warm jacket and beanie, I stumbled upon a garden of poppies in full bloom. Bright. Delicate. Unbothered by the cold. I couldn’t help but wonder how these fragile-looking flowers were thriving in icy conditions and how...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it really means to take action.It’s Day 3 of the 12 Days of Creativity in The Hatchery, and the invitation is simple, but not always easy. Take one small step. Nothing elaborate. Nothing polished. Just enough to move the needle. Recently, I came across a mural painted along the side of an art store. At first glance, it stopped me because of its joy. The vibrancy. The shapes and movement. Nothing says you were here, Creativity, quite like...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, Lately, I’ve been noticing how much inspiration is everywhere this time of year. It’s impossible to miss if I slow down long enough to look. A view from the Tolosa Winery tasting room. On my recent visit to wine country, you were present in every sense. In the rolling vineyards stretching toward the horizon. In the careful pairing of wine and charcuterie, where each flavor seemed to tell its own small story. In the glow of holiday lights wrapped around trees in town squares,...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, Recently, I read an article written by a mother about her young adult son trying to launch into adulthood after college. He did everything right. Good grades. A computer science degree. A clear path laid out in front of him. And yet, here he is jobless, uncertain, and standing at the edge of a world he was never truly prepared for. Not because he failed.But because the system did. He isn’t part of a “failed generation.” He’s a product of an education system that trained him...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, I’ve been thinking a lot about how you show up in my life with an invitation to dance. You arrive in these small, shimmering moments that could delight every one of my senses, and yet sometimes the constraints of real life make me say "no" even when my whole being wants to say "yes". Like the other day, when you placed those beautiful complimentary muffins in front of me at the restaurant. I knew your fingerprints were all over them through the color, the aroma, the...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Creativity, During my most recent massage session, I was reminded of the beauty of an audacious welcome and the quiet power of rest. It had been a while since I’d made time for something so simple and necessary. When you’ve spent years living on an educator’s salary in an expensive area, you learn to do what you must to make everything work. Rest sometimes becomes optional, even when it shouldn’t be. But the moment I walked into my massage therapist’s studio, something shifted.She had...
2 months ago • 1 min read