“You’re a creative, Paula!”

My whole body tensed in rejection to this definitive statement from my business coach during our Zoom call. It was the summer of 2023. I had been living at home after getting laid off from my job and I think I had just finished telling her about my latest Barbie Self-Care workshop or my idea for my first screenwriting project.

“I guess.” I replied with a shrug.

“You are.” She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I had hovered around creative spaces for years. Singing in multiple choirs. Writing for multiple publications. Performing in musicals. Dancing in competitions. Designing hundreds of social media posts. Even poorly crocheting a variety of projects.

But I had never felt comfortable calling myself an artist or creative. I had a particular idea of what being a creative looked like and it didn’t include the current version of me: a burnt out, laid off content strategist desperately trying to start her dream business but feeling more disconnected from herself than ever.

I don’t remember exactly what I had shared with my coach from business school to inspire her to reflect myself back to me so clearly. I just remember viscerally shrinking away from the possibility of claiming an identity that I had basically been moving as my entire life. It was a strong enough reaction that I had to sit with myself and unpack why I was so afraid to claim something that, for all intents and purposes, I already was.

I examined my idea of what even makes a creative a creative, how my perfectionism showed up in sneaky ways. I sat with the guilt and shame I had for not pursuing the creative dreams that I had seen clearly in my mind as a little girl. I noticed the resentment that had laid dormant from years of choosing the more “practical path.” Then I decided to do the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron during my sabbatical in Brazil and really take being an artist seriously. (I share some of that journey in my Saturn Return Diaries on YouTube.)

Now about three years later, I’ve drafted my first two screenwriting projects, developed my own program, gone viral on TikTok, launched a YouTube channel, hosted multiple workshops and group sessions, and published 10,900 words in my newsletter. I’m not afraid to be seen trying, to imperfectly start something new, or to create in a way that aligns with my energy. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I am a creative. If you’ve made it this far, you probably are too.

So if you’re ready to reclaim your relationship with art and creativity, you can register here for my Reclaim Your Relationship with Creativity workshop, happening next week. I’d love to have you 🫶🏾

Thanks for reading as always!

With gratitude,

Paula