The Theft of Creativity
Creativity isn’t usually stolen in one dramatic moment.
It is worn down quietly, disguised as dedication.
In my twenties, I believed burnout was the price of belonging.
I was a young teacher eager to prove myself. I said yes to everything: lesson plans that stretched late into the night, stacks of marking that followed me home, coaching, committees, field trips. If someone asked, I was there.
Back then, I measured my worth in output. The longer I stayed, the harder I worked, the more I believed I was proving myself. I thought exhaustion meant I was doing something right. That the weight under my eyes, the papers piled high, the constant yes was proof I mattered.
But it wasn’t.
It was a badge I wore, mistaking depletion for dedication. And what I didn’t see then was the cost. Not just my sleep but my creativity, my joy and sense of self.
The system I worked in rewarded sacrifice and called it dedication. Like so many others, I mistook depletion for proof that I mattered.
That is not belonging. That is extraction.
And when I finally understood that truth, when I realized I wasn’t broken, I was being extracted, I felt relief for the first time in years. It wasn’t weakness. It wasn’t me. It was the soil I had been planted in.
Here’s what I’ve learned, both in classrooms and in research: belonging cannot be earned through exhaustion. It has to be rooted in worth.
When we start to see burnout for what it really is, not a personal weakness but evidence of systems built to extract, we stop asking, “What is wrong with me?” and start asking, “What needs to change?”
That shift is where flourishing begins. It’s where we start to reimagine classrooms, workplaces, and families as soil. Not places that strip us down, but environments that sustain us.
This is the heart of my work: helping people and schools create the kind of environment where creativity and well-being can grow. Because the truth is, all flourishing is mutual.
And the question I’ll leave with you is this:
What kind of soil are you planted in, and is it helping you grow?