START HERE: Where Health and Creativity Meet

Health and circumstance impact art and creativity in interesting, complex, nuanced ways. And we adapt in resilient fascinating ways. Create Me Free explores all of this.

This is a quick start guide to what Create Me Free is all about. The About page offers more detail. The Table of Contents will guide you to all of the writing.

Create Me Free explores the complex relationship between health and creativity. We move beyond the tired "tortured artist" trope and the oversimplified "art is always therapy" narrative to examine the rich, nuanced middle ground where most creative lives actually exist.

This work is built upon nearly two decades of lived experience as a full-time creative living with mental health challenges, interviews with hundreds of artists across disciplines, and deep research into the intersection of psychology and art.

My Core Services

I offer two main ways to work together on your art-health intersection:

Creative Health Map + Orientation

I practice Creative Health Cartography: mapping the landscape of how your health impacts your creativity.

Through archive review (exploring your existing written work) or guided interview, I identify patterns across six domains (the Six Lands) where health shapes creative life. You receive a personalized Creative Health Map (written assessment + visual map) and a Creative Health Orientation: a conversation where we walk through what I found together.

Creative Health Navigation

Ongoing 1:1 sessions in Creative Health Navigation to continue exploring how health and creativity intersect in your life. Perfect for those who want continued support after receiving their Map, or for artists who want guided conversation without a formal assessment.

How This Substack Supports That Work

The Create Me Free Substack supplements these services by providing:

• Research-based insights from my ongoing exploration of how health impacts creative process, productivity, medium choice, content, identity, and business

• Interview features with contemporary artists sharing their experiences navigating health and creativity

• Framework breakdowns and practical tools you can apply independently

• Community connection with other creatives on similar journeys

• Free and affordable resources for self-guided explorations of how art and health intersect

Who This Is For

You're in the right place if you're an artist, writer, maker, crafter, musician, performer, creative who:

• Has ever wondered "Am I broken or is this just how creativity works for me?"

• Notices your anxiety, depression, or other symptoms showing up in your art (or stopping it entirely)

• Is tired of productivity advice that assumes everyone's brain works the same way

• Wants honest conversations about the messy reality of making art with mental health challenges

• Has felt like you're the only artist struggling with stuff everyone else seems to handle easily

• Is curious about the parts of creativity that Instagram posts don't show

• Craves permission to work at your own pace instead of forcing yourself through creative blocks

• Wants to understand your patterns instead of just pushing through them and hoping for the best

The person behind the work across the years

What’s Next?

This work is designed to meet you where you are. You don't need to read everything at once. In fact, you don’t need to read everything at all. Take what serves you, bookmark what intrigues you, and return when you're ready. Your creative journey, and your relationship with this content, gets to unfold at your own pace.

Ready to dive deeper? Choose your path below.

1. Want a little more detail? Read the About Page.

2. Want to better understand my framework? Check out What is Creative Health Cartography or the Six Lands Overview

3. Ready for action? Order a Creative Health Map or Book a Creative Navigation Session.

4. Ready to read? Browse by interest using the full Table of Contents.