Romanticizing Creativity: Why the Best Ideas Aren’t Online
Is anyone else feeling like the internet is making creativity feel smaller?
One of my favorite places in Los Angeles is the Vista Theater. It’s 102 years old, and even though it recently went through a restoration, it still holds that 1923 charm of red velvet seats, the Egyptian architectural style popular during its time, and a classic ticket booth, still in operation. Even the manager, a local celebrity, still dresses up in a costume relevant to the movie, and greets you at the door. It comes from a time before the internet, before television, a time where one could flex their creative muscles and build something original, never before seen by its patrons of the time. Single screen theaters come from a time where one went to the movies to experience a film, not just watch it. The sticky floors smelled of candy and popcorn, the screen flickers from time to time, it’s an experience you will never get anywhere else, definitely not from your smartphone or living room.
This is what creativity is supposed to feel like when it’s not optimized for engagement but for experience.
Is anyone else feeling like the internet is making creativity feel smaller? Does everything look the same because everyone is drawing from the same Pinterest board and TikTok video? This creative says yes.
During the fires, I did anything and everything to distract myself from watching the news 24/7, being hypervigilant is exhausting and traumatizing. So I watched some comfort movies that I hadn’t seen in a while, I also did a lot more reading, and all of this lead to some surprisingly deep introspection. I was reevaluating my role and identity as a creative person. I was dreaming of ways to incorporate more creative free time into my schedule. I even decided to create a faceless YouTube Channel, that’s actually doing pretty ok (more on that in the future). This shift has put me on a path of being a better creative. A path that prioritizes my creative freedom and reaches for the offline world.
Films, books, music, real-life experiences. Creative inspiration is best when it comes from the outside world. This is your invitation to find your muse off the digital screen. Even just for a day.
Social media tells us: Find trends. See what’s performing well. Make something similar.
But what if the best way to be a creative online… is to get offline.
Instead of sourcing inspiration from TikTok trends, we should be consuming:
📽️ Films that make us feel something, even just a little bit.
🎨 Artists who created without worrying about the algorithm.
📖 Books that transport us to different dimensions or to the center of our souls.
🏛️ The textures and stories of the real world.
Creativity isn’t about optimizing for engagement (ew, I hate that I just wrote that), it’s about cultivating depth (even more cringe, but gets my point across).
A Breakdown: Why Digital Oversaturation is Killing Originality
The Problem:
When we consume only digital content, we recycle ideas instead of innovating.
The For You Page isn’t designed for originality, it’s designed for virality.
Everyone is creating in response to the same trends, so nothing stands out.
The Alternative:
Directors, writers, and artists who didn’t follow trends. Some of my favorites are Wong Kar-wai, David Lynch, John Waters.
The creative power of consuming slow art, like films that take their time and slow-burn books.
Limiting your digital input makes your work stronger, impactful, and multidimensional.
The "Offline Inspiration Framework"
Step 1: Choose an offline medium each week. Go to your local single screen theater, find an obscure museum to visit, or even just people watching at the park.
Step 2: Engage deeply, no passive scrolling. Wherever you go, bring a notebook to write or draw in in. This needs to be zero distraction note taking and/ or sketching.
Step 3: Translate it into your creative work. Meditate on how this creative work or experience shape your storytelling, your art. Journal about it.
Step 4: Experiment. Now is the time to try different formats outside your comfort zone. Make a short film, paint, write a poem. Flex your creative muscles. No one has to see it. But I would encourage you to share it eventually, be brave and share your shitty short film.
BONUS: Here’s a exercise prompt to get you started:
Watch a film from the same decade your parents were born. Take notes on dialogue that raise your eyebrows, color usage, and what emotions and life experiences rise during your viewing.
Review your notes, ask yourself what sticks out? How can you apply it to your next creative project or content? Share and forget it, and move on to the next. The goal is to build a practice, build a momentum.
You Have to See This
What I’m reading, watching, listening to.
This week I’m reading and starting The Artist’s Way, pray for me. I’m watching The White Lotus and Severance, duh. I’m listening to Mariah Carey’s Butterfly album.
(My) World News
It’s official I’m offering Creative Coaching! Learn more about it here. I’m also finally coming out of my Winter cave, looking to attend more in person events, so I attended Female Founders night at Benny Boy Brewery. It was so much fun to meet some new business owners. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend attending, they do one every quarter.
Sidequest
Love the framework and exercises!