Where I Go When I Need to Get Creative

When I was a child, I wanted to be a musician, an astronaut, or maybe even both at the same time. I thought about doing all these fun things, but I never thought I’d work in a creative field. To be honest, creativity didn’t feel like “my thing.” I wasn’t the kind of kid who could draw perfectly or write poems that made people cry. I used to think that only people who were born with it could be creative. But things changed in middle school.

I took a class where I had to make simple animations with pictures. We literally just dragged pictures frame by frame to make them look like they were moving. I loved it because it was so easy. Then there was a project for a music video. It was stressful and a little embarrassing, even though they are my classmates, but I had a great time. It wasn’t even about making something right. It felt good to make something from nothing.

That’s when I first thought, “Maybe this isn’t something I’m just born with. Maybe it’s something I can grow into.” So, when I had to pick a college program, I chose one that combined creativity, media, and digital tools, even though I wasn’t sure about it. But I thought I had to give it a shot. It was hard at first to learn how to use programs like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Figma. I would spend hours on one little thing, and it still wouldn’t look right. My whole file crashed a few times. There were times when I wanted to give up.

Now I have a different view of creativity. I used to think it was just talent, but now I know it takes time, practice, and being okay with things not looking “perfect” right away. The more I learned, the more sure of myself I became. And to be honest, it has changed me. But I learned something from all those mistakes: no project is perfect. You can always make it better by changing, refining, or redoing something. Knowing how to make it better is what matters most. Knowing what kind of shot you need. What technique you can use. And then being willing to do it over and over, as many times as it takes.

When I realized that, creativity stopped feeling like a test and started feeling like practice. Like working out a muscle I didn’t know I had. What kept me going was that I learned something every time I pushed through. And every time I made something, no matter how small, I felt proud. Every time I made something from scratch, it made me feel like I could keep going. I used to think that creativity was just having a talent, but now I know that it’s also about being patient, doing things over and over again, and not giving up on your idea, even if it doesn’t look like what you thought it would.

I never thought I’d work in a creative field. Creativity isn’t about getting it perfect. It’s about having the courage to start over and knowing how to learn from mistakes.