Why creativity is saving my bacon

and the story of how it all started...

Good morning friend,

I’ve been feeling super grateful for my creativity this week. I got creative with the editing style I used in my video for YouTube, and the process of pushing my creative boundaries made me realise the act of creating is the main thing that’s keeping me going at the moment. Looking back, my creative awakening was the catalyst for my rewilding journey. And over the last three months when things have been tough, it’s been the only constant in my life. Why is creativity such a powerful tool?

above: this week’s YouTube video - a vlog (the new editing style I mentioned!)

Back in early 2021 when we were all still in lockdown here in London, I was speaking to my granny and mum one day when they suggested we pick up a paintbrush. We decided we would have weekly ‘art zooms’ where we would discuss what we’d painted that week and share our successes and challenges. It was a lovely way to keep in touch with each other and alleviate boredom. Little did I know it was the start of my new chapter…

above: a screenshot from one of our ‘art zooms’!

For context, I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush let alone participated in any creative pastime since I was in school. As a child and teenager I played music, wrote songs, made my own clothes, shot and edited videos but when I went to university and later entered the ‘real world’ I didn’t make the time for boredom (creativity’s best friend). My granny’s story is similar. She didn’t start painting until her retirement, but when she started she couldn’t stop. She became a self-taught professional watercolour artist during her retirement and sold her art across the UK.

Soon after starting this new ‘club’ of ours, mum and I realised we too love painting. For me, it became somewhat of a fixation and I went on to try out many different types of art - sharing the process online, and connecting with other creatives.

above: a picture from the early days of learning to paint…

I felt like a part of me I had forgotten had been lit back up. It sounds like an exaggeration, but I felt alive again. Like the creativity I had rediscovered in myself was the light that would lead me to understand myself, my life and to carve meaning out of my future.

I decided to run with it and dove head first into this new passion. I spoke on other people’s podcasts about rediscovering one’s creativity as an adult, made my own little podcast called ‘The Creatives’ Coffee Club’, took countless art classes online, studied other artist’s work, started writing and re-learned how to shoot and edit long-form videos.

above: a link to The Creatives Coffee Club on Spotify. I’m not actively recording episodes at the moment, but who knows, maybe one day I’ll be back!

It’s been a long process of getting comfortable with creativity, and truly no-one is ever ‘comfortable’. Creating is a vulnerable act. And the associated fears and self-doubt will never completely disappear. But looking back on my creative journey I can see how far I have come as a person solely because I decided to rediscover my creative passions and develop my creative muscles. And now, when I am going through big life changes on this rewilding journey, it is the backbone that keeps me sane. Because it is the tool I use to understand myself. To reflect on, translate and share my experience of the world.

Here are a few specific reflections on why creativity is saving my bacon:

• creativity helps me to connect with myself.

• creativity helps me to become familiar with and feel at ease with uncertainty.

• creativity helps me to lead with curiosity over fear.

• creativity helps me to see the world in shades of grey instead of black and white.

• creativity helps me to work through phases in life I don’t understand without needing to find an answer in the moment.

• creativity helps me to translate my experiences of the world.

• creativity helps me to trust my instincts and therefore myself.

• creativity helps me let go of worrying about what other people think about me.

• creativity helps me to not take myself too seriously.

• creativity helps me get out of my mind and into my body.

• creativity helps me to connect with people.

• creativity helps me build my confidence in who I am and what is to come in life.

• creativity helps me move past the need to wait for the ‘perfect’ time.

• creativity helps me take action in the present moment.

• creativity helps me get comfortable with taking risks and making mistakes.

“Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.” – George Lois

Rediscovering my creativity was an accident. Whilst I may still not know what I’m doing, or where I’m heading, I’m grateful to my granny and my mum for creating the ‘art zoom’ and cultivating my interest. I wonder where I’d be now if I’d said no…

What about you? Do you enjoy being creative? What creative outlets do you find yourself gravitating towards? How does creativity help you?

Lots of love,

Charlie xxx

P.s. when I was looking out pictures for this letter, I stumbled across the below of Alfie and I from around the same time. He was so small!