Below, coauthors Blythe Harris and Mallory May share five key insights from their new book, Daily Creative: The 5-Minute Habit to Rewire Your Brain.
Harris is an artist and entrepreneur, and for many years was the cofounder and chief creative officer of Stella & Dot. Today, she runs Daily Creative with her partner, May, where they focus on creativity as a daily wellness practice—not an artistic achievement.
What’s the big idea?
Creativity is a natural human capacity that grows stronger with use. When we treat creativity as a small daily practice rather than a high-stakes performance, it becomes a powerful tool for well-being, flexibility, and feeling more alive.
Listen to the audio version of this Book Bite—read by Harris—in the Next Big Idea app, or buy the book.
1. Creativity isn’t a talent—it’s a practice.
One of the most persistent myths about creativity is that you either have it or you don’t. But creativity works much more like a muscle than a trait. Just as your body needs movement to stay strong, creativity needs regular use to stay alive. Creativity is innate, but it requires nourishment and practice. When we don’t use it, it doesn’t disappear; it simply goes dormant.
Many people who say, “I’m not creative,” didn’t lose creativity. They adopted a fixed mindset after an early experience of judgment or shame. Maybe a teacher frowned at your poem. Or maybe your horse looked like a hamburger in drawing class, and you decided to never try again. Over time, creativity stopped feeling safe, so you opted out.
What we’ve seen is that when creativity is reintroduced as a practice—something small, playful, and low-pressure—people reconnect quickly. Confidence doesn’t come from being good at creativity. It comes from using it regularly, without fear.
