Creative Courage: Why You Don’t Need Talent to Be Creative -Just the Willingness to Begin
- Mignon Joy
- Mar 28
- 4 min read
What if creativity was never something you had to earn…
just something you had to allow?
Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I’m just not a creative person”?
Maybe you’ve said it casually. Maybe you’ve believed it deeply.
Maybe you’ve used it as a quiet reason to not even try.
I used to think creativity belonged to other people.
The naturally talented ones. The ones who could casually “doodle” something beautiful without even trying.
Meanwhile, I’d sit there thinking… how do they do that?
And if I’m honest?
There was always a tiny pang of jealousy underneath that thought.
Creativity Isn’t What We’ve Been Told It Is
Somewhere along the way, many of us were taught that creativity equals art.
Drawing. Painting. Music. Dance.
And if you weren’t “good” at those things… well, that meant you weren’t creative.
But that definition is way too small.
Creativity is:
Finding a new way to solve a problem
Building a business from an idea that didn’t exist before
Designing a life that actually feels good to live
Planning a holiday that lights you up from the inside out
Creativity is how you think, not just what you make.
The Stories That Quietly Shut Us Down
I didn’t realise how many beliefs I was carrying about creativity until I started questioning them.
You’ve probably heard some of them too:
“Creative careers don’t pay the bills”
“That’s a nice hobby, but you need a real job”
“Artists struggle”
And then there are the quieter ones:
I’m not talented enough
What if people judge me?
What I create won’t be good anyway
When you grow up around these ideas, you don’t just hear them…
you absorb them.
And over time, creativity starts to feel impractical, indulgent… even a little unsafe.
The Myth of “Natural Talent”
We’ve all sat next to that person.
The one who casually sketches something incredible while you’re still figuring out where to start.
It looks effortless.
But what we don’t see are the hours behind it.
The messy sketches. The bad attempts. The quiet persistence.
What looks like talent is often just practice we didn’t witness.
And here’s the part I wish I understood sooner:
Creativity isn’t about being naturally good at something.
It’s about being willing to be bad at it long enough to improve.
My Tiny (and Slightly Uncomfortable) Experiment
Recently, I came across Samantha Dion Baker and her approach to art journaling.
Her book, Draw Your Day, is all about capturing everyday life through simple sketches.
Not perfect ones.
Not impressive ones.
Just… honest ones.
So I have decided to try it.
Not every day (let’s not get too ambitious 😅), but maybe once a week… or whenever I feel inspired.
And I already know what my biggest obstacle will be:
That little voice that says, this looks terrible.
The Real Work Isn’t Skill, It’s Courage
Because here’s the truth:
It’s not the drawing that feels hard.
It’s the vulnerability.
It’s letting something exist before it’s good.
It’s being seen trying.
It’s risking judgment, even if it’s just your own.
That’s where creative courage lives.
Not in the final result…
but in the moment you decide to begin anyway.
What I’m Learning (In Real Time)
I’m not doing this to become an incredible artist.
I’m doing it to:
Loosen my grip on perfectionism
Learn to see beauty in ordinary moments
Stretch muscles I’ve ignored for a long time
Get comfortable creating things that are… a bit wonky
Because maybe creativity was never about producing something amazing.
Maybe it’s about allowing yourself to experience life more fully.
Journaling Prompt
Take a moment with this one:
“Where in my life have I decided I’m ‘not creative’, and what am I afraid might happen if I’m wrong?”
If you want to go deeper, explore:
Who or what taught me this belief?
How has this belief limited me?
What would I try if I didn’t believe it anymore?
Maybe creative courage doesn’t look like a big, bold leap.
Maybe it looks like opening a blank page in Canva…
and choosing to create something anyway.
Not because you know exactly what you’re doing.
Not because it’s going to be perfect.
But because there’s a tiny part of you that’s curious enough to try.
That’s something I’m learning right now in my own way, through slightly wonky sketches, unfinished pages, and moments where I almost talk myself out of starting.
And every time I do it anyway, something shifts.
Not dramatically. Not overnight.
But quietly… steadily… something softens.
The pressure. The perfectionism. The need to get it “right.”
Because the more you create, the more you realise:
You were never lacking creativity.
You were just lacking permission.
So this is yours.
Open the app. Play with the design. Try the idea.
Let it be messy. Let it be imperfect. Let it be yours.
Because creative courage isn’t about becoming someone new.
It’s about coming back to the part of you that was never afraid to create in the first place.
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