Here’s an interview with Hilde Østby, author of a forthcoming book (April) titled The Key to Creativity. What really resonates for me and jibes with my own feelings and intuitive understanding of creativity is the reciprocal positive relationship between creativity and strong mental health. Almost like a feedback loop or flywheel effect: the more you engage in creative activity, the stronger your mental and physical health, and the stronger your mental and physical health, the more able you are to engage in creative activity.

The key, I suppose, is understanding and believing in this relationship to begin a creative practice even when you feel exhausted and depressed—and to keep going even when “real life” intrudes. Which, why should the activity of non-creative-practices (jobs, civic duty, household chores) be considered “real” while the very creative practices essential to sustain us are relegated to less than “real” status anyway? Is what other people want/need from us more “real” and deserving of respect than what we want/need for ourselves?

You can link to the interview here:

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/91330-where-does-creativity-come-from-pw-talks-with-hilde-stby.html