3 Creative Lessons that Changed Everything This Year (Birthday Reflection)

Tomorrow’s my birthday, and I’m quickly diving into creative lessons — three big ones — that surfaced during a year filled with growth, rest, recalibration, and reflection.

If you’re navigating your own creative season, I hope these reflections help you pause and tune in.

A few days ago, as I scrolled through early birthday messages, reminders of what I’ve accomplished, and those fun birthday freebies from my favorite stores, this thought/question hit me:

“Okay… I’ve done some cool things. So what?”

It’s not a lack of gratitude. But as I reflected on some of the things I’ve done, one question kept coming to mind:

Am I okay with who I am underneath all of it?

In today’s blog — part birthday reflection, part creative reset — I’m sharing the 3 biggest creative lessons I’ve learned this past year (plus a bonus), and what I believe real success looks like now.

A New Definition of Creative Success

Maya Angelou once said:

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

This quote is the heartbeat of this entire episode — and of this season of life. Because for creatives like us, it’s easy to define success by what’s visible: the finished scripts, big launches, the numbers, the applause. But creative success (from within) asks something different.

It asks:

• Do I like who I am while I’m building?
• Am I creating from alignment or pressure?
• Does my creative life feel good — not just look good?

3 Creative Lessons I’m Taking Into My Next Year

1. Follow Your Creative Rhythm

This year, I stopped forcing productivity and started listening to my creative rhythm.

Your best ideas don’t always need 5 hour-blocks. Sometimes it’s a walk, a road trip, or just creating when your nervous system says ‘yes.’

This is one of those foundational creative lessons that changes everything: when you stop working against yourself, the creative flow returns.

2. Let the Project Evolve

Your project isn’t a contract — it’s a conversation. I learned that the best work often shows up after the outline. When I stopped forcing my original plan and let the work shift, it evolved into something far more aligned (and often more exciting).

Creativity is iterative. You don’t need to stay loyal to your first idea. Stay loyal to the truth of the work as it unfolds.

3. Your Nervous System Is Your Creative Process

If you’re tired, disconnected, or hitting walls… it’s not a mindset problem. It’s your nervous system waving a flag.

One of the biggest revelations this year: regulation isn’t a break from the work — it’s part of the work.

After hitting a wall, I unplugged for two days. The clarity and ideas that returned were better than anything I’d forced the week before.

Rest is creative. Recovery is creative. This huge creative lesson honors the body that carries the work.

Bonus: Accepting Help Is a Creative Decision

Letting people help me, and outsourcing certain things, gave me space, peace, and the ability to do deeper, more intentional work.

A Birthday Reminder

Bonus Quote from Mary Oliver and her poetry book Red Bird:

“Instruction for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

This year, I’m not making a birthday wish. I’m making a birthday reminder:

To see the wonder and the magic around me. And here’s my reminder to you:

You’re ‘allowed’ to want more, but don’t lose who you are while going after it.
You’re ‘allowed’ to pause, and say: Actually, I want a life that feels good, not just looks good.

That’s the real creative work.

And this is your gentle reminder to check in with yourself:

• Do I like who I’m becoming?
• Is my creativity nourishing me?
• Am I honoring my peace?

Creative success isn’t found in perfection — it’s felt in alignment. Let these creative lessons guide you, in every season forward.

Listen to Episode 8!

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