Creativity Is Becoming a Luxury
This is such an exciting time to be an artist or a creative.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how creativity is becoming a luxury.
Not because paintbrushes are expensive. Not because cameras cost too much (although they can be). And because books are harder to buy.
Creativity is becoming a luxury because uninterrupted attention has become one of the rarest resources on Earth.
We’re living in an age where every spare moment is filled. We scroll while we wait in line at the supermarket. We listen to podcasts while we walk. We answer emails while eating lunch. Even silence has become something many people rush to escape.
The irony is that creativity doesn’t thrive in constant stimulation. It just doesn’t. It asks for space. It asks for boredom. It asks for long walks, half-finished thoughts, quiet mornings, and afternoons where nothing remarkable seems to happen until, suddenly, something does.
I woke up this morning and started painting a watercolor before I looked at my phone or had a sip of water. It started to spark the inspiration for this article actually, because when I paint I have ideas start flooding in my mind.
For years, productivity has been celebrated as the highest virtue. We learned to optimize everything: our calendars, our workflows, our habits, even our hobbies. People then share “hacks” which is such an awful word.
But creativity doesn’t respond well to optimization or hacks.
It responds to presence.
Perhaps that’s why making something with your own hands feels almost radical now. Painting. Writing. Knitting. Pottery. Gardening. Playing an instrument. These aren’t just hobbies anymore. They are small acts of reclaiming your attention from a world that profits every time it’s divided.
Artificial intelligence will make polished content easier than ever to produce.
But it can’t replace and will never replace the quiet satisfaction of making something that carries your fingerprints, your energy codes, your memories, your mistakes, and your humanity.
In the years ahead, I don’t believe creativity will become less important.
I think it will become one of the greatest luxuries we can afford ourselves.
Not because it’s expensive. Because it requires something increasingly rare:
Our full attention.
Love,
Sarah Prout.
Lovely to hear your podcast Sarah. I've just got back to creating after years of just surviving. It is so therapeutic . So easy to let life get in the way. Creating has to become a habit. Good on you for doing a watercolour 1st thing. That's dedication. I'm fighting to get myself off the couch (its freezing in Auckland atm ) and get myself back to my painting!
This is so true. And a reason I signed up for an en plein watercolor workshop. Though I do creative work for a living, it's been nonstop. Not complaining as I'm self-employed, but it leaves little space for other types of creativity.