Creativity Isn’t a Gift—It’s a Survival Instinct

Blog 6 of 10 from the Truth Bomb Series by Jools Teare

You think I paint because it’s relaxing?
Because I had a lovely childhood, a private studio, and a unicorn called Gerald who whispered positive affirmations in my ear?

Nah.
I make art because not making it would eat me alive.

Creativity isn’t some airy-fairy talent gifted by the muses.
It’s a bloody lifeline.

🧨 We Create Because We Have To

When you’ve had to bottle shit up your whole life—
When the world told you you were too loud, too messy, too weird, too much—
You find a way to speak without speaking.
To scream without making a sound.

That’s what creativity is.
It’s your soul kicking down the door when your mouth can’t find the words.

And no, it doesn’t have to be “good.”
It has to be real.

💥 Creativity Is What Trauma Looks Like in Sequins

You want to know how I survived heartache, diagnosis, divorce, debt, imposter syndrome, and the occasional complete mental unravelling?
I made things.

Sometimes it was glittery, sometimes it was dark, sometimes it was a complete shambles—
but it was mine.

Creativity is the nervous system’s way of saying,
“We can’t logic our way through this, but give me a Sharpie and some sugar paper and I’ll make a start.”

🎭 We Aren’t “Lucky to Be Creative.” We’re Wired to Survive.

People love to say, “Oh, you’re so lucky, I’m not creative at all.”
To which I say, bullshit on toast.

We are all creative.
It’s not a gift, it’s part of the bloody human condition.

The difference is, some of us got shoved into boxes early.
We were told to focus, behave, colour inside the lines.

But those of us who couldn’t (or wouldn’t)?
We kept creating, even if it was in secret.
Even if it made no sense to anyone else.

Because it wasn’t for them. It was for survival.

🧠 ND Brains Especially—We Don’t Create for Fun. We Create for Oxygen.

If you’re neurodivergent, chances are you’ve been self-soothing through making things since you could hold a crayon.

You don’t doodle to pass time.
You doodle to stay sane.

You don't paint because it's your "passion project."
You paint because your brain is like a soda can shaken since birth, and letting it fizz out in colour is the only thing stopping it exploding in aisle 7 of B&M.

Creativity isn’t optional. It’s a pressure valve.

💭 Power-Up Prompt:

What are you secretly making just to cope—and how would it feel to show it to the world, no filter, no polish, just as it is?

💋 Want Art That’s Made From Grit, Glitter, and Bloody Determination?

Every piece I make is forged in survival—mine, yours, all of ours.
Shop the collection and collect something that fought its way into being.