Happy National Creativity Day!

The Couldas + The Shouldas + The Wouldas

Photo by Ari He on Unsplash

While officially established in 2018, National Creativity Day feels like something many of us have been celebrating in spirit long before it had a name.

Whether you’re a daydreamer or a doer, a doodler or a builder, a maker or a shaker, if you have ever felt the urge to bring something into the world that didn’t exist before, congratulations. You’re a card-carrying member of The Creativity Club.

In other words, today is for me, for you, and for a whole lot of us.

But let me be clear: Creativity doesn’t always show up to the party with confetti and kazoos. Today is more of a BYOB and DIY kind of celebration.

Sometimes, creativity shows up with a suitcase full of emotional baggage—namely, The Couldas, The Shouldas, and The Wouldas. What a bunch of partypoopers.

If you’ve ever said (or had said to you):

• “I coulda done more if I had the time.”

• “I shoulda started this project sooner.”

• “I woulda finished it, but life got in the way.”

…you are not alone.

Creativity isn’t a straight line. It’s a zig-zagging, messy loop. The Circle of Life.

Creativity doesn’t always follow the rules—or schedules. Deadlines don’t work for many creatives or every creative project. Sometimes, creativity hides behind fear, insecurity, and/or perfectionism.

So today, on National Creativity Day, let’s give ourselves permission to make peace with the mess of it all. And give ourselves permission to make a piece of art instead.

• Let’s celebrate the sketches, the half-written drafts, and the works-in-progress.

• Let’s embrace (and protect) the wild ideas that haven’t found their final form.

• Let’s honor the starts as much as the finishes.

• Let’s remember that sometimes the most creative thing we can do is just…keep going. Even if we’re slow, even if we're unclear, even if we have no idea where we’re headed or when we’ll get there.

For me, creativity is more about the journey than the race—more about quality than quantity. That’s why I tend to create alone, and primarily for myself. I already bring plenty of great expectations (and professional procrastinations) to the table without any outside influence or pressure.

If you're carrying so many Shouldas, Couldas, and Wouldas that it's hard to breathe, maybe today’s the day to let them go—or at least ignore them for a while.

Or better yet, try channeling all that angst and anxiety into creating something new. Something by and for you.

Creativity isn’t just about making masterpieces. It’s about making space. For yourself. For your voice. For your vision.

Happy National Creativity Day, y’all...now go make something!
Clint 🌈✌️

P.S. What’s something you’ve always wanted to create, but haven’t yet?
Today’s a good day to get started. Just saying. 🏴‍☠️🥰

COLLIDE PRESS is a reader-supported publication.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber or patron.

Big thanks to all who’ve subscribed and/or supported!

FOR YOUR (SUBSTACK) CONSIDERATION

• The QLP Questionnaire: Aidan Wharton (

  The Queer Love Project
  )

• Queer History 126: Jean Cocteau (

  Wendy The Druid
  )

• My Appliances Are On Strike (Trans Friend)

---

ON THIS DAY = MAY 30

BIRTHDAYS

• 1846 = Peter Carl Fabergé = Russian goldsmith and jeweler

• 1896 = Howard Hawks = American filmmaker

• 1899 = Irving Thalberg = American screenwriter and producer

• 1903 = Countee Cullen = American poet and author 🌈

• 1908 = Mel Blanc = American voice actor

• 1909 = Benny Goodman = American songwriter and bandleader

• 1918 = Bob Evans = American businessman and Bob Evans Restaurants founder

• 1926 = Christine Jorgensen = American actor and singer 🌈

• 1927 = Clint Walker = American actor and singer

• 1928 = Agnès Varda = Belgian-French filmmaker

• 1930 = Robert Ryman = American painter

• 1939 = Michael J. Pollard = American actor

• 1950 = Bertrand Delanoë = French politician and former Mayor of Paris 🌈

• 1951 = Stephen Tobolowsky = American actor, singer, and director

• 1958 = Ted McGinley = American actor

• 1964 = Wynonna Judd = American singer-songwriter

• 1971 = Duncan Jones = English filmmaker

• 1971 = Idina Menzel = American singer-songwriter and actor

• 1975 = CeeLo Green = American singer-songwriter

• 1981 = Remy Ma = American rapper

EVENTS

• 1631 = Publication of Gazette de France, the first French newspaper.

• 1806 = Future U.S. President Andrew Jackson kills Charles Dickinson in a duel.

• 1899 = Pearl Hart, a female outlaw of the Old West, robs a stagecoach outside of Globe, Arizona.

• 1911 = At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.

• 1922 = The Lincoln Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

• 1980 = After winning a landmark lawsuit (Fricke v. Lynch) against his high school, Aaron Fricke takes Paul Guilbert to his senior prom.

• 1986 = Perry Ellis dies of AIDS-related complications at the age of 46.

HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES

• Canary Islands Day (Spain)

• National Creativity Day

• National Mint Julep Day

PORTRAIT + MORE OF THE DAY

COUNTEE CULLEN BY CARL VAN VECHTEN

“I have a rendezvous with life.”
Countee Cullen

“So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.”
Countee Cullen

Countee Cullen To Harold Jackman

MORE COLLIDE PRESS

• SHOP = Art Prints + Merch + Pride

• SUBSCRIBE = Substack + YouTube

• SUPPORT = Amazon + Ko-Fi