Every now and then I’ll hear someone say,
“I used to paint.”
Or…
“I used to draw all the time.”
It’s almost always followed by the same sentence.
“Life got busy.”
I don’t think people stop creating because they fall out of love with it. I think life quietly gets in the way. School. Work. Families. Children. Housework. Bills. One day turns into one week. One week turns into one year. Then before you know it, it’s been twenty years since you last picked up a pencil.
I’ve lived through those seasons too. When my children were born, my creativity naturally took a back seat. They became my priority, and rightly so. Like many parents, there simply wasn’t enough time in the day.
Years later, creativity found its way back into my life through scrapbooking. It was still creating, just in a different form. I was preserving memories instead of drawing pictures, and that was exactly what I needed at that stage of my life.
Then I started working part-time. Life became busy again. Creating quietly slipped away. It wasn’t until I began my Visual Arts degree at university that something reignited inside me. The spark I’d almost forgotten was still there. It had simply been waiting for me to make room for it again.
Over the years I’ve realised something important. We don’t lose our creativity. We stop making time for it.
I hear people say they don’t have time, and I completely understand that feeling because I’ve said it myself. But I’ve also learnt that creative time rarely appears by itself. It has to be planned. It has to be protected.
Just like a doctor’s appointment. Just like taking the kids to sport. Just like every other important commitment in our week. You need to schedule the time to make the time.
I still have to remind myself of that. If I go too long without creating, I notice it. I become more stressed. It takes me longer to relax. I start making excuses. “I’m too busy.” “I don’t have enough time to get everything out.” “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
Sound familiar? Tomorrow has a habit of never arriving.
These days I actually schedule creative time into my week. Sometimes life gets in the way and I have to move it. That’s okay. I simply reschedule it. Because I’ve learnt that if it’s not in my diary, it probably won’t happen.
The funny thing is, it doesn’t have to be hours. Sometimes ten minutes with a sketchbook is enough. Ten quiet minutes. A pencil. A paintbrush. A little bit of uninterrupted space. That’s often all it takes to reconnect with myself.
When adults return to art after many years, I notice something almost every time. They relax. Their shoulders soften. They remember how creating used to feel.
Then comes the surprise. “I haven’t forgotten as much as I thought.” I love watching that happen. Not because they’ve suddenly become amazing artists. But because they’ve rediscovered a part of themselves they thought had disappeared.
Research supports what many artists experience. Studies in psychology and creativity suggest that people don’t lose their creative capacity as they get older. Rather, opportunities for creative engagement often decline as responsibilities increase. When adults intentionally make time for creative activities again, they often experience improvements in wellbeing, stress reduction and overall life satisfaction. The important part isn’t creating professionally—it’s creating consistently.
For me, ideas never really stop. I keep a little digital notebook full of them. An advertisement might spark one. A movie. A photograph. Even looking out the window. Most of my ideas arrive when I’m taking a mental break from whatever I’m working on.
I’m not trying to be creative. I’m simply allowing my mind the space to wander. That’s usually when the light bulb switches on.
Creating helps me stay balanced. It helps me stay happy. It helps me give the best of myself to everyone else. Maybe that’s why I always find my way back to it.
So if you’ve been saying, “One day I’ll start again.” Maybe today is that day. Find your old sketchbook. Open the cupboard. Dust off the paints. Give yourself permission to schedule some time.
It doesn’t have to be hours. It might only be ten minutes. Just take one step.
You might be surprised to discover that your creativity has been patiently waiting for you all along.