August 7, 2023

Where does creativity come from? Recently, I completed an abstract painting. I hadn't painted something in a long time (I went to school for fine art but ultimately dropped out to work in tech) and felt that I had to get this out of me. But it made me start to wonder - where does creativity come from? Why did I feel compelled to paint something? Why now?

For me, I find that I have these bursts of creativity every few years. I can go years without painting, then create something I love in a few hours. The same thing happens with ideas for products, business, or what I want to do with my life.

Every few years I go deep on a certain subject and that is all encapsulating for many years. Then, something switches and I give myself the time and space to get creative with things like painting, taking on new hobbies, exploring new areas of the city, trying new things, etc. Why? The hardest part is going from being focused on something for many years, to expanding and learning, to bringing it all back into something I want to focus on for the next few years. Maybe I'll end up spending a few years of my life just painting.