Creativity Isn’t Magic. It’s Momentum. What I Learned From a Year of Making Without a Plan.
At the start of 2024, I chose one word to guide me: CREATE.
Not to achieve something. Not to hustle or prove or perfect. Just to make things. Messy, beautiful, crooked things.
I wanted to see what would happen if I made creativity my compass instead of my checklist.
Over the year, I followed sparks wherever they led: cyanotypes in the sun, linocuts that left ink under my nails and pink shreds all over my tables and floors, embroidery that tangled and untangled my thoughts, wax and acrylics layered like emotional geology. I was making everything and nothing in particular.
I filmed one-second clips along the way—flashes of ink and light and texture—and at the end of the year I stitched them together. A short time capsule of creative chaos. A visual heartbeat of a year spent making.
When I made this video, I thought it was a look back. But watching it now, it feels more like a promise I accidentally kept.
Because that word—CREATE—didn’t end with the year. It built a rhythm. A kind of muscle memory for joy.
And that rhythm has carried me right through 2025: more cyanotypes, another sketchbook full of doodles, more experiments that begin with “what if?” Turns out, momentum doesn’t need a plan. It just needs you to keep showing up for wonder.
What I’ve Learned About Creative Momentum
Curiosity is louder than confidence. You don’t need to believe in yourself. You just need to be curious enough to try.
Momentum isn’t magic; it’s mischief. You start making and something starts making you. You follow the tug, you break your own rules, you surprise yourself.
You don’t outgrow your word—you grow into it. CREATE wasn’t a single-year fling; it was an awakening. Now it hums quietly beneath everything I do.
Your Turn
If you picked a word of the year, maybe it’s time to revisit it. See what it’s been up to while you weren’t looking.
And if you didn’t, maybe this is your invitation to choose one now, retroactively or rebelliously.
Pick something that makes you feel alive.
Something that doesn’t wait for permission.
Something that asks: what happens if I just begin?
✨ Creative Prompt
Look back at your past year. Scroll your photos, your sketchbook, your camera roll, your scraps.
Notice the throughline. What did you keep reaching for, even without realizing it?
Write down one word that captures that energy. Don’t overthink it. Let it choose you.
Now, give it one small act this week. Make something tiny in its honor: a doodle, a note, a photo, a mess.
Momentum begins again, right there.