Everyone is creative with Katherine McDonald

Has there ever been a time when you decided you just weren’t a creative person?

For Katherine McDonald, it was when she was eleven. “After a few art classes gone wrong, I decided there are creative people and not-creative people—and I was in the not-creative category.”

Now, as a mother to three, she shudders to think about her own children adopting the same categories at such a young age. But for a long time, Katherine found herself in a storyline that dismissed creativity.

“I didn’t know what I was missing. I just kept following a trajectory.”

After studying law, Katherine worked at a large firm in New Zealand doing mergers and acquisitions as a junior corporate lawyer.

While grateful for her role, over time Katherine started to notice a nagging concern in the back of her mind. “I had a feeling this path wasn’t really me, but I didn’t really know which threads to pull.”

Being open to possibilities

Things began to really shift when she moved to New York with her husband and had an opportunity to start afresh.

“I felt like a sponge. My eyes were wide open looking for things that were going to help me decide about my next career move.”

Open to new possibilities, a friend forwarded on the CreativeMornings newsletter filled with interesting links and things to think about.

Katherine made her way onto the local New York chapter mailing list, and soon signed up for an upcoming event a few blocks away from her in Williamsburg.

She still remembers that first event. “It was a beautiful crisp morning, and I remember feeling a bit apprehensive about attending because I wasn’t a creative,” said Katherine.

As soon as Katherine entered, the apprehension dissipated. “I felt like I was being hugged—I felt safe, connected and somehow I knew I belonged.”

At first, Katherine didn’t think she’d tell people she was a lawyer, but when she heard our founder Tina Roth Eisenberg read the manifesto, she knew she could just be herself.

“Hearing that everyone is creative, and everyone is welcome really lit a spark in me,” she said.

After attending four or five events, Katherine spotted a job opening at CreativeMornings and decided to throw her hat in the ring. The team were blown away by her experience, and ended up creating a custom role for Katherine—she started out as Partnerships Manager and went on to become the Chief Operating Officer for CreativeMornings.

Creativity as a lens for life

It was here at CreativeMornings HQ that the almost life-long distinction between creative and not-creative really started to dissolve.

“The way everyone on the team saw the world was just inherently creative.”

Soon, Katherine realised creativity is not a talent or hobby, but a lens for our lives. “Even the operational work I was doing and how I could approach systems was creative.”

Asking questions can be a simple way to find more creativity in everyday life, said Katherine. “Tina was a huge inspiration. She would always ask questions such as: How could we make this more fun? What’s a new way of doing this? What would people not expect here?”

To be creative is really about being curious—asking questions, looking attentively, and seeing things from different perspectives.

“Listening to so many CreativeMornings talks over the years, I now know anything can be interesting.”

The ebb and flow of creative life

Not only is creativity something that can be honed, it’s malleable to the demands of the day, or particular life seasons.

“What’s stuck with me is the everyday creativity—being present, asking questions, and scanning for beautiful things you can notice.”

No longer stuck in the “not creative” storyline, there have been periods where Katherine has also been immersed in various creative hobbies—water colour painting and drawing, for example.

With time a bit more limited, all versions of creativity are enjoyed together as a family. On the regular walk to kindergarten, for example, Katherine and her kids will always look for something new—be it the leaves changing, a flower in bloom, or a neighbor’s dog they’re yet to meet.

Whether you’re at a law firm, in a painting class, or on a walk around the neighborhood, what Katherine’s story proves is that anyone can be creative—because everyone can be interested.

^{This article is part of our blog series of love letters to everyone who’s ever been part of a CreativeMornings gathering. Since our start in 2008, our remarkable volunteers have hosted over 15,000 events across the globe. As a community, we have become experts in what it means to create spaces that allow for deep, loving, human connection in an increasingly disconnected world. With this series, we’re sharing what we’ve learned hoping it will encourage you to join in or create your own meaningful spaces. The future is not lonely. It’s communal and hyperlocal.}