On 30th May 2025, the UK will mark National Creativity Day. It was founded in 2018 by Hal Croasmun, a screenwriter and the founder of ScreenwritingU, an online screenwriting school. His aim was to recognise the value of creativity in all its forms in everyday life. The day was created as a response to how easily creative expression can be overlooked, especially in fast-paced, productivity-focused cultures.

Croasmun wanted the day to be a reminder that creativity isn’t reserved for professionals or prodigies. It’s something everyone can access, in how we solve problems, express ourselves, or imagine alternatives. He saw it as a chance to encourage people to return to abandoned creative passions or to try something new without the pressure to be brilliant.

creativity /ˌkriːeɪˈtɪvəti/ noun
The use of imagination or original ideas to create something; inventiveness.

“BUT I’M NOT CREATIVE”

Creativity often feels like a loaded word. For some, it brings up memories of school art classes gone wrong, harsh feedback, or simply not being “that kind of person.” Others think creativity means being able to draw well, write stories, or come up with something original on demand. But that’s a narrow definition, and not particularly helpful.

Creativity isn’t a personality type. It isn’t about talent either. It’s simply the act of making something that wasn’t there before. It could be a sentence, a rhythm, a collage of torn paper, or a meal cooked without a recipe. It could be stitching two ideas together, or finding a different way to solve a problem. It’s not about being “good at”. It’s about getting your hands, mind, or words moving.

WHAT CREATIVITY LOOKS LIKE (BEYOND THE OBVIOUS)

Creativity doesn’t only live on canvases or stages. It lives in homes, heads, texts, lunchboxes, presentations, playlists, voice notes, cupboards, gardens, spreadsheets, and birthday cards. It appears whenever someone tries something out, makes a small change, or expresses something in their own way.

Some everyday examples might be:

• Leaving a note with a joke on it
• Rearranging the furniture or a shelf so the room feels better
• Making a simple collage
• Creating a tailored way to organise your week
• Sketching a shopping list in pictures instead of words

Creativity lives in actions, tones, choices, timings and textures where the smallest shifts can be a creative ones.

WHY CREATIVITY IS GOOD FOR YOU

Creating something small can have a big effect. It helps shift your brain out of autopilot. It can calm stress, focus thoughts, and give you a sense of control and clarity, especially in moments of overwhelm.

Many psychologists and researchers have found that creative activity lowers cortisol (your stress hormone), increases dopamine (your feel-good chemical), boosts memory, focus, and cognitive flexibility. It gives shape to thoughts and emotions that are hard to express in words and it helps you break out of rigid thinking or anxious loops.

Just ten to fifteen minutes of low-pressure creativity can make all the difference. You don’t have to produce something polished. You just have to give your mind something else to play with.

COMMON PUSHBACKS (AND WHAT TO DO WITH THEM)

“I’m not artistic”

Good! You’re not here to make something perfect. You’re here to start where you are, not to produce something to show, but to find out what happens when you try.

“I’m not good at writing”

No one’s asking you to write a novel or a poem worthy of a Poet Laureate. Writing is about noticing and capturing. One sentence is enough, A fragment, A moment.

“I don’t have time”

Of course you do. You might not have hours, but you can give yourself ten minutes. It’s the length of a coffee break. The time you spend scrolling. It’s probably shorter than the time you give to over-thinking. Creativity really doesn’t need a huge window, it just needs a crack of time, and a decision to let that creative spark shine.

CREATIVITY EXERCISES FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY …

If the thought of drawing, writing, or making something fills you with dread, start here. These exercises are designed for people who think they can’t .

can’t draw:

• Close your eyes and draw at tree. Don’t look until you’re done.
• Choose an object and draw it without lifting your pen. Let it be messy.
• Fill a page with marks (dots, lines, scribbles) that match how you feel right now.

can’t write:

• Start with “Today I noticed…” and finish the sentence. Stop there if you want.
• Write a message you’d never actually send — to someone real or imagined. No filter.
• Use a timer for 3 minutes and write without stopping. Doesn’t matter what. Just go.

make anything:

• Create a “mood menu”: draw or list 5 moods and pair them with colours, textures, or objects.
• Arrange random objects on a tray or shelf into a tiny display. No reason. Just balance, shape, colour.
• Rip paper and make a scene, a skyline, a bird, a cup, a wave. No drawing involved.

These aren’t for sharing unless you want to. They’re not for skill-building. They’re for noticing what happens when you give your attention to something that didn’t exist before you made it.

CREATIVITY BUILDS CONNECTION TOO

You don’t have to create alone. Some of the most meaningful moments come when you make something with others and offer it to someone else. A card, a sketch, a playlist, a photo, a poem. It becomes a way to connect with others. Creative expression doesn’t have to be loud. But it does create space for conversation, memory, joy, release, or just as another form of “pause”. Try searching online for free creativity workshops near you or online in your timezone.

START SMALL

You don’t need permission. You don’t need to “be creative.” You just need to try something small. A few words. A line. A strange little collage. A photo of a crack in the pavement. That’s where it begins.

WHAT I DO THAT’S CREATIVE

I run a Facebook Group for people who love drawing with Procreate. Every week, I create a series of prompts, usually eight, and bring them together in a short video, pairing each one with visual examples. The prompts aren’t just random themes. They’re chosen to spark ideas, push comfort zones, and open up different ways of thinking and making. That in itself is a creative act. Choosing the words, finding the images, building the rhythm of that weekly video is all part of the process.

I also take lots of photos. Yes, I stop when something is striking or beautiful, a sunset, a wall of colour, the way light hits a surface or the moon, but I also look for the not-so-obvious. A cracked pavement. Branches that look like tangled nerves. Weeds forcing their way between flagstones. These moments catch my eye and often work their way into my art. They remind me that creativity isn’t always in the polished. It often begins in the overlooked.

Once I’ve got my images, I love putting them together into reels (those short vertical videos we see all over spocial media). There are plenty of free apps to help with that part and while I use the Pro version of Instories, I often recommend CapCut too. It’s free, has a great audio library, and best of all, it runs on desktop. That makes a huge difference at my age. I can see what I’m doing properly, take my time, and enjoy the process without squinting at a screen or fumbling through a phone interface.

Oh and I make video compilations of the hedgehogs who visit my garden every night for snacks and drinks. I;m setting up a YouTube channel (apparently). I’m sure I have two already but anyway here’s the link to the playlist for Hedgehog Watch

All of this, the prompts, the photos, the reels, is part of my creative practice. It’s not just about what ends up on the screen. It’s about staying open, paying attention, and making something from what I’ve seen, felt, or imagined. And for me, that’s where the real value of creativity lives.

A PLACE TO PUT WHAT WE MAKE

I’m happiest when I’m drawing or painting. So, with my friend Natasha loves creative writing, especially poetry, we teamed up without pressure or pretension to do what we love together. A shared commitment to creating something meaningful and putting it out into the world. We built a website where our poems and artworks now sit side by side.

We’re not driven by money. It’s not curated for likes. It’s simply an outlet, a space where words and images meet. It’s open to anyone, free to browse, free to share, and it’s for anyone who might need a moment of reflection, a spark of inspiration, or a reason to begin. How cool is that?

We’ve set up a weekly chat over Zoom where we put the world to rights and help keep eachother on track with the goals we’ve set ourselves collectively, begin with about 15 poem and art pairings and then to try to keep the momentum each month with an additional five titles. We’d love you to take a look, explore the art, read the poems and maybe share them with friends. Oh and the Cover image comes from the poem by the same name. CreativitY

What about you?

What are you making space for? Maybe there’s a project you’ve been thinking about for a while. Or maybe you just want to see what happens when you try something small. A poem, a drawing, a photo, a few lines on the back of a receipt. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to start.

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