Let's follow their lead
Creativity grounds me, whether it is my own or the creativity of others.
Perhaps you are the same.
Like the boy or girl, comfortably sitting in a chair, transfixed by an author’s words. A teen who draws mysterious creatures that spring from his imagination and onto a pad of paper.
The student who stands in awe of an extraordinary building while his earbuds convey a majestic speech once delivered at the site. A man pulling out his smartphone to capture the image of the play of light and shadow on a distant mountain.
Perhaps the mother who hums a familiar tune as she decorates for a child’s party. Or the friends who regularly record videos of each other goofing around in improvisational skits.
These and hundreds of other everyday occurrences are creative touchstones we turn to when we want to connect with our own (and often overlooked) human creativity.
Doing so is satisfying. Often soothing. Grounding us in the here-and-now while also transporting us to that place where creative professionals spend much of their time. The creative place.
The creative place
Creativity is more than expression. It is a way of seeing.
Every time we imagine something that does not yet exist, connect seemingly unrelated ideas, interpret another person’s experience, or reconsider a problem from a different angle, we are practicing skills our communities and democracies desperately need.
The creative place is not an escape from public life. It is one of the places where we learn how to participate in it.
In Latin, “creative place” translates to res creativa.
A few months back artists, designers, writers, architects, filmmakers, actors, educators, musicians, storytellers, choreographers and other arts enthusiasts came together to launch a new movement. A place where artists of all disciplines want to put imagination and creative practice to work in public life.
Creative protest is magnificent and an important human right. Rethinking the pinch points and policymaking in our civic lives is a proactive move that the artist-led Res Creativa believes will result in a healthier and stronger humanity … especially in these uncertain times.
We’re preparing opportunities
Like the child with a book or the mother with a song, we will have occasions in the coming weeks where we each need to ground ourselves in our own creative places. Doing so will especially help residents of the United States withstand the assault of headlines, doomscrolling, and “breaking news” that is sure to come our way.
Self-soothing is self-care. Protest is a statement. Proactivity, however, is the opportunity for prevention. Artists can take us there.
I know. I know. It’s outlandish to state that creators in all disciplines will lead us to a better future. But I did. And I believe it. We have what it takes.
We thrive on creativity. Do you?
We’re not afraid of outlandishness. Are you?
We embrace empathy. Do you?
Music, visual art, theatre, literature, dance, and architecture can be beautiful and comforting. Often, they can be political. But the creativity beneath the work, the outlandish thinking, the empathy are often absent in the smoke-filled rooms and halls of power … where anger, fear, and greed prevail.
Our declaration of proactivity is coming soon. We call it the Opportunity Docket. We need you to be a part of it. It provides paths that will lead us to a healthier democracy and humanity.
Imagine that.
A version of this post was also published on Substack, Oct. 18, 2026.
Banner image: Peter Paul Rubens, Diogenes Looking for an Honest Man (Diogenes sucht Menschen) (ca. 1630–1640), Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Public Domain.
