Read this when you're feeling uninspired.

When is the last time you made something? Really made something? When is the last time you felt paint on your hands or smeared ink over a line of words pulled from your heart?

I’m beginning to notice that for a lot of us, it’s been too long. 

We get lost in the every day life and duties. Our attention gets pulled in a million different directions. We forget how important expression is. We ignore the feeling of bursting at the seams. 

We forget to imagine. We forget to create. 

And yet, the thing that separates us as humans from the rest of the animals is our need to create. To innovate. To build, destroy, and build again.

So if you ask me, to ignore our need to create is to avoid our very humanity.

Whether you believe yourself to be creative or not, let me tell you that you are.

From the earliest moments of finger painting without a care in the world to the world you created in your mind when you’d spend hours “playing pretend.” 

You were born to create. Somewhere along the way someone told you that dealing with the realities of the world were more important. They told you that when art class was optional and science was not. They told you that when they used the words “starving artist.” They told you that when they told you to go to college and get a real job. No one ever told you your art was important. No one ever told you the world needed it. Maybe no one ever told you that you were good enough. And if they did, maybe you still didn't believe it.

And now - how long has it been? The things you used to love, the things that made you feel, the things that lit you up inside - you never have time for them anymore do you?

How could you ever make the time to paint when you had bills to pay? How will you find the time to create a song when the dishes need doing? When would you ever manage to make a video when you barely have time to take a lunch?

And why?

Well let me tell you that this is all we’ve got. The past isn’t a thing anymore. It’s not malleable. It’s unchanging. It only exists in your memory. The future isn’t guaranteed. It doesn’t exist yet. All you or I or anyone else has is right now. Pure existence. So if you feel like making something, make it. You don't know when you'll ever have the chance again.

Be bad at it, and make it anyway. Do it more. Do it daily. Get better. Show no one, show everyone, I don’t care. Do it for yourself. Unplug from social media. Turn off the TV. Make something. 

Pick something up and paint it. Make it new. Feel proud of yourself for doing that. 

Write a poem on a napkin. Tuck it in a journal. Or take a picture of it and post it. 

Close all the doors and windows and sing at the top of your lungs. Or open the windows. Take a guitar to the park and just play. Or just play in your room. Learn to play the piano. Learn to do something, anything. 

Fill a journal with markers you haven’t used since high school. Make a collage from old magazines. Use all the stickers you’ve been “saving” - saving for what?

Paint a wall a new color. Move the couch. Draw something and stick it on the fridge.

You have a heart and soul that ache to create. Why do you smother the ache? 

Don’t think about it. Just do something. Just make something. Then make something else. Stop overthinking it. You’ll never get better at something by overthinking about it. You’ll only get better by doing it. And anyway, who cares. Who decides what’s good?

Who cares if it’s good. That’s not really the point is it? 

You say you don't have time for it but the truth is, you aren't making it a priority because you don't think it's important enough.

It's so important.

It's important for you because it's how you express yourself. Because it's a way to purge your emotions, beliefs and thoughts. Because it brings you happiness and a sense of accomplishment and because it just feels good. Because it's the mark you're going to leave in this world. You owe that to yourself. You talk about self care but you're neglecting your essential need to create.

And whether you believe it or not, it's important to the rest of the world. Because there are people who need what you have to give. Because there are people who want to feel seen; who don't want to feel alone anymore. Because you have the power to bring something good into other people's life. You owe it to the world to give it all you've got.

Whatever you believe in, all the powers of the universe came together to bring you into existence. You're here, living and breathing and bleeding with potential, and that is a damn miracle.

What are you going to do with that miracle?

Are you going to use it just to pay the bills? Are you going to use it scroll for hours upon hours? Are you going to use it being envious of the people who are actually creating things?

Or are you going to use it being everything that you are and indulging in every ounce of creativity you can muster?

You've got an endless well of creativity, just waiting for you to come and quench your thirst. Are you going to keep ignoring it?