The Antidote to a Weary Heart: Creativity, Joy & the Power to Keep Going

I’ve been feeling tender this week—teary tender. The kind of tenderness that comes when the world feels too heavy, when everything feels like too much.

But every time I sink into that space, the same message finds me:
Stay in your joy.

It sounds almost too simple, too easy—like a bypass for all the grief and uncertainty swirling around. But I don’t think joy is about ignoring what’s hard. I think joy is the antidote. It’s the fuel that keeps us going, the light that reminds us what we’re standing for.

And for me, joy and creativity go hand in hand.

Creativity isn’t just about making something pretty. It’s not just a hobby or a pastime—it’s energy. It’s a force that moves through us, one that reconnects us to ourselves, to possibility, to the simple magic of being alive.

When our nervous systems are frayed, when we’re exhausted from holding so much, creativity brings us back to center. It reminds us that we have power. That we are co-creating this life, even in the midst of uncertainty.

It’s no wonder that when I feel overwhelmed, I reach for art. It’s not about making good art. It’s about letting myself be in conversation with something bigger. It’s about moving the energy, letting something flow through me instead of staying stuck in the weight of it all.

And when I do? I feel alive again.

So, if you’ve been feeling tender too—if your heart is weary and your spirit is stretched too thin—maybe creativity is the antidote you need. Not to fix or erase what’s hard but to light the way forward.

Make something.
Play.
Let the energy move through you.
Let joy in.

Because this isn’t about ignoring the world, it’s about remembering what keeps us standing in it.

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P.S. If you’re craving a space to create, play, and reconnect with your joy, check out The Makers’ Circle here on my substack. We meet once a month to create together, online!