How to Get Your Creativity Back When It Feels Lost

personal growth

26 Apr

What did the most creative period of your life feel like?

For me, it was probably those pre-internet days when screens weren’t everywhere and books filled the gaps. I’d copy comic book drawings onto scrap paper, make my own greeting cards with coloured paper and glue, or attempt to write stories that never made it past the second page. I wasn’t particularly good at any of it – I couldn’t really sketch, and I definitely needed my mum’s help to finish anything remotely polished for school. But I kept trying.

Looking back, maybe I wasn’t exactly “creative” in the traditional sense. But I was curious, playful, and eager to make things. And that meant something. Creativity wasn’t a goal or a label – it was just something I kept reaching for, in my own quiet way.

Creativity doesn’t disappear – it just gets buried

With age comes more responsibilities. In my late teens, creativity slowly took a back seat to exams, revision timetables, and the pressure to “do well.” Later, in university, it became even harder. More assignments. More pressure. And honestly, just trying to pass some of those courses felt like a full-time job.

I still wanted to be creative – I missed it. But at some point, it started to feel like a luxury. Something I had to earn by finishing everything else first. I'd tell myself I’d get back to it once I was “on top of things,” but that moment never really came.

Then came work. I took a job onboard, where every day is a workday. Wake up, work, eat, finish work, sleep. Repeat. And repeat again. Even on the days off during contract, I couldn’t seem to reconnect with that creative part of me. I was either too tired or too distracted. Sometimes both.

I never really found my way back to creativity – not even during vacations. It always felt out of reach, like something from a different life.

But maybe it’s still there, waiting.

What about you? When did you last feel creative in a way that made you come alive – not productive, not impressive – just you?

What were you doing at the time? What kind of space did you have around you?

And if it mattered to you then… what would it take to let a little more of that back in now?

Remember what opens the door for you

When I think back to the times I felt most creative – not just once, but over and over – it was never during busy seasons. It was always during the in-between. The slow afternoons. The quiet walks. The empty mornings when I wasn’t rushing to do anything.

For me, creative ideas don’t arrive when I chase them. They show up when I’m looking the other way – washing dishes, reading something beautiful, standing in the shower a little longer than usual.

So much of getting creativity back is about noticing what already helps. Maybe it’s a long walk without your phone. Maybe it’s talking to a friend who sees things differently. Or re-reading something that once moved you. You don’t have to reinvent yourself – just reconnect with the things that quietly open the door.

Start with something small, with no outcome

There’s a weird pressure these days to make everything shareable. To turn a sketch into an Instagram post, a doodle into a side hustle. But creativity doesn’t owe anyone an audience.

Sometimes I just cut shapes out of magazine pages. I scribble lines that don’t look like anything. I write a few sentences that go nowhere. It doesn’t matter. The point is to start. Not to finish something great or impress anyone – but to get your hands moving again.

When I let go of needing it to be good, something shifts. I start to enjoy the process again. And more often than not, that’s when the spark returns.