The Lie of “I’m Not Creative” and What It’s Really Costing Us

I was recently invited onto an IG Live where, inevitably, the phrase “I’m not creative” came up. It always does.

At first, we talked about the usual mindset shift—seeing creativity as a process rather than a product. When we stop worrying about whether our art is good enough, we create space for play, exploration, imagination.

But as we talked, I felt something deeper at play.

A tension I couldn’t ignore.

Because when women say, “I’m not creative,” they’re not just talking about art.

They’re talking about something much bigger.

They’re talking about how much space they’re allowed to take up.

They’re talking about how they move through the world.

Or, more accurately, how we’ve all been taught to move through the world: small.

The Real Meaning of “I’m Not Creative”

Here’s what I’ve come to understand:

When a woman says, “I’m not creative,” she’s not really talking about talent.

She’s talking about power.

She’s saying, I don’t trust my instincts.
She’s saying, I don’t believe I can try something and get it wrong.
She’s saying, I don’t know if doing what I want is even OK.

And that? That is the biggest lie of all.

Women have been conditioned—through history, culture, and lived experience—to believe that our ideas, our problem-solving, our ability to shape and mold our lives isn’t valid.

And that’s exactly why creativity matters.

Because creativity isn’t just about making things.

It’s a way of thinking. A way of seeing. A way of knowing.

And when we’ve spent our lives being told we are less than—given fewer opportunities, fewer resources, fewer chances to express ourselves—of course we feel less creative.

But that feeling? It’s not the truth.

This Is a Hot-Button for We Crones

Creative energy starts to bubble up for a lot of women as they shift into their third act.

Not because we suddenly have more time to pick up a paintbrush. But because we begin to unearth who we were before the world told us who to be.

There’s a re-mapping of self. A fire that burns away the injustices we’ve carried. And we begin to feel ourselves anew.

And we’re feeling these injustices now. Not just the crones, but every woman. Every age, every generation.

The world needs women who are ready to create something different. Women who are ready to act.

And that’s precisely what this year’s International Women’s Day is calling for.

Finding the Fuel for Accelerated Action

This year’s International Women’s Day theme, Accelerate Action, is about dismantling the barriers that keep women from fully stepping into their power.

But here’s the thing:

We cannot take action if we don’t trust our own creative energy.

Creativity is how we solve problems.
How we dream of something better.
How we challenge the status quo and build something new in its place.

We’ve seen it before.

During the height of the AIDS crisis, when thousands were dying and the world turned away, activists turned to creativity—to both solve a problem and make grief impossible to ignore.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt was more than just fabric and thread. It was a powerful expression of creative energy—a force that cut through indifference and demanded action. The fact that the message came through craft made it tangible—something no one could look away from.

This is what Creativity does.

It isn’t just about making something beautiful—it’s about creating something that cannot be ignored.

To embrace our Creativity—that energy that fuels our existence—is to embrace our agency.

To take action from a place of inner power.

And yet, we’ve been trained to believe we don’t have it.

That’s the real danger of “I’m not creative.”

It keeps us from seeing possibilities. From imagining something different. From trusting ourselves to create something new—whether in art, in activism, or in our own damn lives.

That is why reclaiming our creativity—whether through art, through self-expression, through the way we live—is an act of defiance.

And all of that is needed now, more than ever.

The Call to Action

So here’s the invitation:

This International Women’s Day, take action.

Make something. Say something. Do something.

Because small acts of power do wonders.

Make a conscious decision to claim your creativity in all its power.

Because you’ve always had it.

But after Saturday? Keep listening.

Because that voice—the one that says, “I’m not creative”?

It’s not yours.

It was learned. Taught. Passed down.

And it is not the truth.

And we are not reinforcing that old story anymore. Nope.

The Reframe

Instead, we say:

I am creative.
I am powerful.
I know what I want and how to do it.

Then—do something that makes you feel creative.

Not to be good at it.
Not to show it to anyone.

But simply to feel your own creativity energy. Because every time we let our creativity win, we reclaim a piece of our sovereignty.

And that? That is powerful.

Because creativity has never just been about making art.

It has always been about making something that matters.

And we, as women, are long overdue to reclaim that truth.

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