Every creative project begins with a lie we tell ourselves: This one will be easy.
Then we open a fresh artboard or a notebook… and nothing happens.
That blank page is more than empty. It’s a dare. It challenges you to fill it with something good, something clever, something that won’t make future-you cringe. And that pressure? That’s where most of us freeze. But here’s the truth: the first idea is rarely the best one, and often not even usable. And that’s fine.
Creative flow doesn’t start with brilliance. It starts with permission. Permission to be a mess. To be cliché. To be overcomplicated. The point is to begin.
When I’m stuck, I name the file something like “what-even-is-this-v1” to take the pressure off. It’s a signal to my brain that we’re just showing up, not presenting to the board of directors. Let the bad ideas out first. They make space for the good ones to find you.
✏️ Creative process tip: Just get to the second version. The magic’s usually hiding there.