Travel Light 4: unleashing creative desires

Sometimes, all it takes is finding a thread worth following.

"Being creative is not so much the desire to do something as the listening to that which wants to be done."— Anni Albers

Own your creative desires

Some desires are satisfied once we achieve what we want. We buy our first home, meet a partner, or reach a goal, and the desire that drove us there has served its purpose.

Creative desires are different. Their true power often begins when we act on them. They evolve. The more we pursue them, the more they can reveal. They can open doors we didn't know existed, lead to unexpected discoveries, and change how we see ourselves and the world around us.

Yet, so many of our creative desires get buried. Life gets in the way. We tell ourselves they're not urgent or important. We can always get to them later. Right?

But creative expression isn't a distraction from life; it's part of what makes us come alive.

Perhaps part of the problem is our discomfort in admitting what we truly want. Our desires can seem selfish, impractical, or even a little embarrassing. So, we push them aside and get on with the things we're supposed to be doing.

But what happens to those desires when we continually ignore them?

One of my mentors once suggested that our needs get met, either constructively or destructively. I've never forgotten that idea.

What if some of the things we do to fill our time are attempts to satisfy unacknowledged desires?

Think about it:

• Doomscrolling the news might be an attempt to find meaning or feel part of something bigger. Being alarmed can sometimes feel like being engaged.

• Watching endless dance videos might be a clue that we'd like to dance ourselves. Watching other people do something can be easier than giving ourselves permission to try.

• Collecting inspiration on Instagram might reflect a desire to express our own taste and vision. Curating other people's work can become a substitute for making our own.

• Staying busy and overcommitting might be a way of feeling that we matter. Being needed gives us a sense of significance, but can leave little room to ask what we actually want.

Of course, these habits can have perfectly valid reasons behind them. The point isn't to over analyze everything we do. But when a pattern keeps consuming our time, perhaps it's worth asking whether something else is waiting for our attention.

Maybe the question isn't simply How do I stop doing this?

Maybe it's What am I really looking for?

An unexpected thread

Sometimes the things we envy in others are clues to desires we haven't yet found a way to express.

That's what happened to me with theatre. I watched other theatre creators bringing their work to life, and I felt something I eventually recognized as envy. They were creating something I wanted to express, too; I just hadn't figured out how.

That feeling became one of the impulses behind inspiraTO, the ten-minute play festival I went on to create. Looking back, I wonder what would have happened if I'd simply dismissed that envy or told myself that what they were doing wasn't for me.

We tend to think of envy as something ugly, a feeling best kept to ourselves. But perhaps it can also be a clue—not that we want someone else's life, but that we're seeing something we want to explore in our own. The trick is to pay attention to that feeling rather than push it away.

There might be a thread worth following.

How do we give our creative desires room to grow?

Start by paying attention.

What do I keep circling back to?

Think about the things you envy, bookmark, or daydream about. What catches your attention repeatedly? Is there something you keep telling yourself you'd love to try someday?

What would I do if no one ever saw it?

Take away the audience, the approval, and the pressure to be good at it. What would you still want to explore simply because it interests you?

And the most important question:

What's the smallest version I could try this week?

You don't need a grand plan, a new identity, or permission from anyone. Ten minutes of sketching, a single paragraph, or one song learned badly will do.

The point isn't to produce something impressive. It's to find out what happens when you give a desire some room to breathe.

Some desires return. Others change shape. And some are waiting to be discovered. You don't have to know where they'll lead before you begin. Experimenting with them is one way to keep them alive.

You might discover that what you've been putting off isn't a distraction from the life you want.

It might be part of it.

Till next time. Travel light.