In this newsletter: Relieve stress, release creativity, and what’s the most creative gift you’ve ever been given?

Creativity & Stress

It feels like forever since I sent my last newsletter 28 days ago. The holidays came and went, New Year’s Resolutions came and went, the amazing city of Los Angeles has been ravaged by fire, we’re about to have a new but old President. It’s a stressful time. My 11-year old child even said last night, “No offense, I don’t like January.” (The “no offense” is because it’s my birth month, more on that below.)

So it’s really no January surprise that I’ve been thinking a lot about the deep and complicated relationship between stress and creativity lately.

Here’s what we know:

• Creative activities alleviate stress.

• Relieving stress allows us to be more creative.

• Creativity can be stressful.

• Stress is bad for us.

Got it? Here’s a butcher paper brain dump that probably won’t make it any clearer:

And here are four simple tips to help navigate the confusing stress/creativity conundrum:

1. Have a secondary creative outlet that isn’t riddled with pressure. One where you don’t care at all about the outcome.

2. Make a list of activities—creative and not (eg, walks, tea, journaling, cooking)—that help you alleviate stress and do them regularly. I call these Creativity Boosters, but they are also simply stress relievers.

3. Don’t try to think big—whether problem-solving at work or writing your memoir—when you’re stressed. Do something mindless on your list instead—or do a stress relieving Creativity Booster.

4. Buy my new digital workbook, PRIORITIZE YOUR CREATIVITY! It’s full of tips, exercises and prompts for everyone from established artists to total beginners. And includes helpful reminders about how good creativity is for you—including stress relief.

Here’s what some writers, painters, designers, dancers, small business owners, and more are saying about the workbook:

• “I love the workbook. It does such a great job of helping me draw out some of those creative outlets, triggers and ideas.”

• “So thoughtful, so clear, so well written”

• “This was just great and so informative.”

• “Very thought provoking.”  

• “I've really enjoyed the workbook!!”

• “What a great gift!”

• “I spent the morning reading the guide and it’s WONDERFUL!!!!!”

• “Kate is the real deal! For anyone looking to make space for their own creative project, this will help you to learn how to not only get out of your own way, but to nurture yourself along.”

Happy Birthday To Me

That was a very un-Capricorn thing to say, but I actually bring up my birthday as a way to callout four amazing creative gifts I received:

1. My partner David typed (yes, on a typewriter) a birthday card inspired by the letter to the inner critic prompt in my workbook;

2. My friend Rachel embroidered me a tennis (and beyond) hat that says “ace” with a little tennis ball after a conversation we had two days prior (while playing tennis) about how relaxing embroidery is for her and how cool a hat like that would be;

3. My friend Andrew gave me the 1986 artist’s journal, Sketchbook With Voices. He found it used since it’s been in and out of print and hard to find, so it charmingly had two pages done by a previous owner and two pages missing. He has the book too so we encouraged each other to do prompts the very next day;

4. My friend Evan made me a fortune teller with inputs he cleverly procured from people at my birthday party.

Ways to Work Together

Simply reply to this email if you’d like to explore any of the following:

For Individuals:

• Start creativity coaching for accountability, clarity and inspiration—and for a sounding board who never tires of hearing about your personal creative outlets and projects.

• Approach your career with more intention, clarity and ease through career coaching

• New! Meet for a one-off session to prepare for a job interview or important meeting/conversation. It works!

For Corporate/Team Collaboration:

• I want to help leaders and teams improve team collaborations because people matter and nothing is more efficient than a team working well together. Bring me in to:

  • Find out how your team is really doing and uncover great ideas;

  • Identify and fix parts of your process that are causing stress (aka the creativity killer);

  • Facilitate workshops and talks that spark inspiration and creativity.

For Groups & Community:

• Coming off an incredible January 5th event kicking off the workbook—and after continuing to see the impact of group workshops I started running in 2024—I’m increasingly energized to do more workshops and events this year. I’m developing some new ones now (in-person and virtual), and would be excited to explore how I can contribute to your upcoming conference, retreat, offsite or team event. Check out my past experience here and be on the lookout for more events in 2025!

And that concludes newsletter Vol 9, January 2025. Please share with others who may enjoy it! Anyone can sign up and read past newsletters here.

“Happy” January,

Kate