How to Create Things People Love (Even When You Feel Like Trash)

Part 2

We’re past the middle of March already?!? HOW?! Well, wow.

There was a moment a while ago when I felt utterly unproductive. I hadn’t written in weeks, and everything I created felt like it had zero purpose. So, in a fit of frustration, I decided to make something utterly pointless—a squiggly drawing on a scrap of paper with my non-dominant hand. It was clumsy, silly, and the kind of thing you might hide under a pile of laundry. But, oddly, it felt freeing. The funny thing is, that scribble ended up inspiring an essay I wrote later on about how creativity doesn’t always look like a masterpiece—it sometimes looks like a child scribbling on the back of a napkin. And that’s where the magic is: in the freedom to make something that doesn’t have to be anything at all.

If you’re here, you probably read (or at least skimmed) Part 1. If not, go read it first—it’s got some of my best advice on making things even when you feel like an uninspired potato. But this? This is the deluxe edition. The behind-the-scenes commentary, the director’s cut, the secret menu at your favorite cafe.

Why am I writing a part 2? Because creativity isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a life thing. A practice, a way of being. And I want to dig deeper, give you more tools, more fun, more ways to live a creatively full life—not just make cool things but also see life through a creative lens. Ready? Let’s go.

Give Yourself Permission to Play

There was a time when you made things just because. No purpose, no goal. You picked up sticks and called them swords. You built castles out of couch cushions. You drew wobbly suns with a yellow crayon, and they were perfect.

What if you could make like that again?

Play is the beginning of everything beautiful. It’s the moment before the masterpiece, the reckless, joyful, messy middle.

✨ Exercise: Set a timer for 10 minutes. Doodle with your non-dominant hand. Write a haiku about your breakfast. Make up a ridiculous song about your pet. Play with your art like a kid plays with mud

Trust That the Funk is Fertile

If you’re in a creative slump, congratulations. That means something new is brewing.

✨ Creative living tip:

• Instead of fighting the slump, lean into it.

• Take a ‘creative nap’—lie down and let your mind wander, no pressure.

• Take a walk without your phone.

• Boredom is the compost where ideas grow.

Collect Weirdness

Your brain is a museum. Curate accordingly.

• Keep a ‘curiosity journal.’

• Write down the oddest thing you notice each day.

• A sentence from an overheard conversation. The way a pigeon walks like it has somewhere very important to be. A word that feels delicious in your mouth.

These will be your seeds for future creativity.

Some words sparkle like river stones. Some moments feel like secrets. Collect them. They are yours to keep.

Mess Up on Purpose

Perfection is a creativity thief. So, let’s sabotage it before it sabotages you.

✨ Exercise:

• Start a drawing or a poem and ruin it intentionally.

• Smudge the lines, swap words with nonsense, scribble over a part you love.

• Then, instead of fixing it, turn it into something new.

• What happens when you lean into the imperfection?

Make for the Love of It

Forget the algorithm. Forget the audience. Forget the ‘shoulds.’ Make because you’re alive and you can and because creating is its own kind of magic.

✨ Final exercise: Make something right now. A silly sketch, a nonsense poem, a tiny clay sculpture. Don’t overthink it. Just make.

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The world doesn’t need perfect things. It needs you—your weird, tired, brilliant, scared, joyful, one-of-a-kind self. So go make your thing. And if you do? Share it. Tag me. Let’s celebrate your art.

PS: If this sparked something in you, leave a comment or subscribe. Let’s keep making, together. And if you’d like to dive even deeper into inspiration, check out my Nature Observation Guide—it’s a love letter to you in leaves and sunlight, it’ll help you write better poems.

Now go forth. Make twisted, beautiful things. And if your toast burns in the process, well—that’s just another story waiting to be told. ✨

I’ll write to you again soon!

How to create things people love (even when you feel like trash)