PSA: On the cost of letting creativity go dormant
Repeat after me: "My creative life *is* my real life."
Happy Lunar New Year, friends! On this first new moon of 2025, I want to talk about the philosophy behind my creative work—both my solo practices and the Creative Mentorship containers I hold with other writers, divergent humans, and sensitive weirdos.
No matter where you are in your creative journey, there’s something in today’s letter for you.
Working in less-than-ideal circumstances
Let’s begin with a question: How do you nourish your creative channel?
When I use that phrase, “creative channel,” I am always conjuring Martha Graham. (Why is it that choreographers have the best things to say about creativity?)
Here’s Martha, in conversation with her friend Agnes de Mille (emphasis added):
It is not your business to determine how good [your work] is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.
What happens in your body when you consider Martha’s advice? Think about some of your weediest creative struggles—for example, lack of confidence—and then imagine just…setting that struggle down for a while. Imagine, for a brief moment, that confidence or lack thereof could be beside the point.
To be clear: Struggles of confidence are worth addressing in the safety of trauma-informed mentorship, and they make up at least 50% of the work I do with my clients—a lot of us need help with this kind of internal stuff.
But also? Everything doesn’t have to be fixed in order for you to start making again, right now. That’s what I hear Martha saying. And I’m inclined to believe her.
The accessibility of inspiration
When I talk about creativity, I am always talking about something that’s a little bit spiritual and a little bit intangible. I’m talking about the projects, yes—for example, the project of this newsletter—but I’m also talking about the experiences, which are how we consistently keep the channel open. (For example, the experience of making this newsletter for the past 3 years, which has reinvigorated the way I regard my own creative capacity and thought processes.)
We assume it’s the mundane, practical stuff, like word counts and deadlines, that keep the channel open, but these things merely accommodate the deeper, more primal layers where good work begins.
Good work begins at the level of urge and impulse; and within your devotion, when you show up not just physically but emotionally; and through the quality of your attention.
Inspiration lives in the quality of your attention.
Which means you create inspiration for yourself every time you turn toward the world with warmth, interest, or curiosity.
Do you hear what I’m saying?! Creativity is a really big deal! “It isn’t, like, some weird side hustle,” I said to one of my own mentors recently. “It’s an intrinsic part of who and how some of us are.”
I did some “research” and asked folks to tell me how they feel when they aren’t spending enough time making.
The answers were incredible. Here’s a snippet:
Me: How do you feel when you’ve been away from your creativity for too long?
Hanna Keiner of : “Frazzled and all over the place. Unsure; doubting. Too “full” / overflowing / filled up. As in I’ve had too much input and there needs to be an outlet. There’s no space for anything else and it feels crowded. Untethered; floaty; not grounded.”
Jeff Nachtigall of : “Disappointed in my choices and/or the consequences of my actions. Sad. Anxious. Angry.”
Raju Tai of : “Like a thirsty depressed baby elephant but also like an ocean clogged in a pipe of worries. It starts to itch and hurt at some point. And eventually might even have a full blown sickening effect.”
: “Like functioning at 2 watts when I’m a 15 watt bulb. The worst part is I forget about the fact that I have a surplus unused 13 watts when I’m in that state. It is only when I come back to it that I remember I’m actually a 15 watt bulb, and what it means and feels like to glow at almost full capacity.”
of : “Antsy and buzzing in a not good way, my fingers want to squelch in paint.”
: “Edgy. Full of nervous energy that doesn’t get burned off by any of the usual methods. Uncertain of myself, more likely to second guess my perceptions (especially of social cues)…Protecting space for commerce with the magic of the world is not just something that feels good, for me, it’s a required maintenance activity like stretching and sleeping and drinking some water. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but it can’t be put off for too long without consequence.”
: “I feel estranged from one of the most important parts of myself, which is terribly sad.”
Do you see yourself in any of the above?
Disappointment, confusion, bad buzzing, clogged worry pipes. We feel so deeply, unfixably bad about ourselves when we aren’t spending enough time making / writing / painting / dreaming / whatever-ing. The exact details of how we create don’t immediately matter. What immediately matters is that we use our creative energy with energy, with gusto and vitality and vigor; that we let the mobile thing inside of us move.
It wants to move!
How to begin
Here’s one idea: Begin with something you already love or are already doing.
One of my clients is gearing up to begin a new project—part storytelling, part interview series—and she wants to create momentum but, as she recently told me, she’s running low on fumes. Many of us find ourselves here regularly, and it is an impossible-feeling place.
Her “homework,” between now and our next session, is to do what she’s already doing every single day. In her case, that means making small talk with the random people she encounters at the store, the post office, etc.—conversations she loves having, and that fuel her curiosity to no end—but to bring slightly more attention and intention to one interaction per day and, on most days, to take some gentle field notes afterwards. What was the other person’s body language like? What kind of questions did she ask? What emotional energy was she picking up on? How did the interaction end?
This practice is accomplishing multiple things: It’s highlighting the connection between her present, mundane life and her biggest creative ambition. It’s allowing her to stretch her interview muscles in an accessible way. It’s folding a gentle reflective practice into her day-to-day activities. And most importantly, it’s reinforcing this vital truth: that what we already love, and how we naturally move through the world, can be a primary resource for our creative work.
Creativity is never not miraculous. But also? It’s food / water / vitamins / etc.
We need this part of ourselves, and when we don’t take care of it, we feel gut-wrenchingly terrible—severed from our truest form.
I’m telling you these things not to overwhelm you with high stakes, but to elevate your impression of this common thing inside you. And to tell you that the creative life you want, this way you’d like to be using your time and energy, is possible. I have faith, yes, but I have evidence, too (see above / below).
So: How do you nourish your creative channel?
By caring about craft. By reading widely. By showing up to the page. Yes. Yes! AND,
By stewarding and protecting your inner world.
By giving yourself the benefit of the doubt.
By defining creativity on your own terms.
By accommodating your genuine needs.
By trusting your curiosity and enthusiasm.
This is the space I enter with other humans through trauma-informed creative mentorship:
The vibrant, humming space. The heart-wide-open, channel-wide-open space. The space where experience and sensitivity and intuition can be honored as the forms of knowledge that they really are.
Our job together is to acknowledge your creativity as the complex ecosystem that it is, and then proceed to nourish all of it. The whole thing. The practical stuff, and the emotional-spiritual stuff, too.
→ Learn more about Creative Mentorship here.
→ Schedule a free consultation with me here.
→ Watch Martha Graham dance with Helen Keller here.
“Great, Sarah. But like, what do your actual clients have to say about all this?” (in case you’re wondering…)
“Sarah is a dream to work with. In my time with her, I developed a strategy and mindset for completing my first manuscript that enabled me to meet deadlines and feel confident that I was delivering quality material. Our time together was highly personalized and I learned so much about myself, both as an author and as a creative human being.”
~Maria Minnis, author of Tarot for the Hard Work
“Working together isn’t about trying to ‘develop’ or make a definable product. It’s about helping me figure out a relationship with my creativity, and helping me define how to keep coming back to it. That’s what this longer stretch of time makes space for: It lets the other parts of my “regular life” happen, where I sometimes feel less in touch with my creativity, but then it allows me to notice that it’s still there, and the way it still shows up.”
~Violeta, artist
“I came to Sarah because I was creatively stuck, frustrated and blocked. I had spent a full year trying to write a book proposal for my publisher but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t do it. Everything felt so hard and impossible, until I met Sarah. She has helped me build a sacred connection and relationship to my creativity. If you are wanting to come home to this sacred part of yourself or if you are wanting an incredibly gifted and wise writer and editor on your side, Sarah is that person. Your life will change if you venture down your own journey with her support.”
~Sarah Baldwin, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
“Working with Sarah has been uplifting and inspiring. Going at my own pace alleviates my time-management-based anxiety, and it allows me to take my time to process our conversations between sessions fully. I would absolutely recommend consulting with Sarah - she is an incredible, active listener, a thoughtful mentor, and a wickedly great writer to boot! Sarah's insight and perspective constantly inspire me.”
~Katie, writer
“Working with Sarah is like inviting Creativity to a loving family therapy session. For me, she has brought the breath of air when my embers are threatening to smolder out. She does this through careful listening, presence and insightful questions. I believe that asking the right question at the right time is an art form, and Sarah is a goddamn wizard at it.”
~Kat HoSoo Lee, Spiritual Business Mentor
“I just signed up for another three months of coaching with Sarah because I could not bear to let her go after our first three! I needed someone to walk with me to the finish line—but not just anyone. I hired Sarah because she possesses an extraordinary combination of trauma-informed approach and editorial brilliance. She’s an eagle-eyed, deeply intelligent reader who champions your work and asks the right questions, with empathy.”
~Erin, writer
“Working with Sarah is magical. Our sessions together help me dive deeper into my relationship with creativity. At the moment this means writing a book about feminine authority, postpartum and motherhood. I love how Sarah sees into the writing and helps me draw out the pieces that I can expand on and write more about. I feel so safe with her, and love to swim in the waters of creativity together.”
~Candice Elliot, founder of Fortress and Flourish
“I love how Sarah cares so deeply about a writer’s journey. She was in the process with me and made such beautiful connections to help propel my writing forward. By the end of the session, I felt so seen and supported. If you’re looking for someone who is gentle, reflective, and sees all of your potential, hire Sarah!”
~Nisha, writer
“I worked with Sarah to create a Mission Statement that would encompass both my personal core values as well as the values of my small business. What started as a coffee date to discuss my mission statement turned into an introspective, almost therapy-like session that had me leaving with so much gratitude, inspiration, and confidence to show off this powerful message I had to share. Sarah is so gifted with her ability to find the perfect word to summarize a bunch of different emotions and ideas. Her style of coaching is very supportive and she really provides a safe space to allow you to explore her teachings and your own creativity.”
~Kaahreena, small business owner
etc.
"Creativity is a really big deal! “It isn’t, like, some weird side hustle,” I said to one of my own mentors recently. “It’s an intrinsic part of who and how some of us are.”" ... I am learning these days just how true this is. So much of my life, out of necessity and need, feels small and constrained right now, and it feels painful to be not creating. I need it. I can't manage without feeding that part of who I am.
“about something that’s a little bit spiritual and a little bit intangible” - I’ve never heard creativity articulated so well. Love ALL of this post - thank you Sarah 🙏🏻