As we move through 2025, many of us are experiencing a profound sense of temporal distortion — a few months that have carried the emotional weight of an entire year. A relentless stream of new political narratives and policies threaten human rights. AI tools emerge at a dizzying pace, promising efficiency while simultaneously jeopardizing jobs. Layoffs are rampant, grocery prices continue to soar, and uncertainty feels like the only constant.
The times are uncertain. So what do we do?
In the slow study course “We Will Dance With Mountains: VUNJA!” Dr. Bayo Akomolafe explains: “We are living in a time of blurred boundaries, broken binaries, and beleaguered borders. A time of Al, coups, climate chaos, cancellation myths, declining trust, and frightening heat. We will have to think within the storm, within the tensions, within the ripples. There’s no place to stand; the world is moving, and we must move with it.”
When we feel uncertain, we often think that the thing we need is control. However, the quote by Bayo reminds me that if we want to move with the tensions and the ripples while navigating a world that feels frightening and uncertain, we have to let go of control and lean into creativity.
By creativity, I don’t simply mean artistic talent, but rather the fundamental human capacity to envision and bring forth what does not yet exist — whether that’s a painting, a policy, or a new way of organizing our communities. In times of struggle, creativity and creatives can be the answer we need. Creativity invites emotions, creativity fights back against current oppressive systems, and creativity helps us imagine a world that they never thought was possible. Let’s explore this more.
1. Creativity invites emotions
Creativity helps us make sense of the seemingly senseless. In times of uncertainty, creativity offers us a tool for being with and processing our emotions. By singing, painting, designing, moving, drawing, etc. we can move beyond the rational mind and tap into the many senses that govern our reality. We process our feelings without looking, trying to fix or make them go away. Creativity allows us to sit with uncertainty rather than push it away. Artist Yayoi Kusama once said, “Art is a way to express our inner emotions and release ourselves from suffering.” This perspective frames creativity not merely as a craft or a profession, but as a vital human coping mechanism.
I strongly believe that there is no creativity without emotions. While we might use numbers, calculations, and logical frameworks to express creative ideas, at the heart of all creative work lies the fundamental desire to feel something ourselves or evoke feeling in others. In times of upheaval, our emotions can feel overwhelming, but creativity provides an outlet — a way to express grief, anger, joy, or hope without the need for explanation.
Rather than trying to understand them, I’ve used painting, collaging, music, etc. as ways to let the feelings move through my body. I’ve found that this practice helps me navigate uncertainty without becoming overwhelmed by it.
The invitation: In the midst of it all, when things don’t make sense, turn to art. Pinpoint a feeling and paint, write, draw, sing, dance with it. Use creative expression to express the emotion. Do it without a plan or a purpose. Feeling it deeply through the different expressions. You may be surprised by what insights emerge when you bypass analytical thinking and allow expression to flow directly from emotion.
2. Creativity fights back
Creativity isn’t just an artistic pursuit, but it’s a way to fight against current forms of oppression. From poetry and music to street murals and performance art, artists across cultures have used their craft to defy injustice, amplify silenced voices, and spark change. There are many examples throughout history how creativity has been used as a form of resistance. From movements resisting Russian authoritarianism, to poetry of resistance in Palestine and the music of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, creative expression has been a means of survival and defiance. Consider the satirical street art of Banksy challenging surveillance culture, the protest music of Pussy Riot confronting Russian political oppression, or the digital art collectives documenting human rights violations when traditional media fails. These creative acts serve as both documentation and mobilization.
Through poems, posters, and activism in the streets, artists have found ways to stand up to power and change narratives and influence decisions. As writer Ursula K. Le Guin powerfully articulated:
“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.”
In moments of uncertainty and hardship, creativity can help us stand up and fight for better. And I believe that creatives are particularly equipped to do this. In a world that values numbers and hard proofs, being a creative is already an act of resistance — we’ve been moving with a sense of resistance our whole lives. Our work does not always make sense or make us money. But that does not mean it is not valuable or worth pursuing. We’re already on a different path. We’re already resisting the status quo in our own careers and now we can use the same type of resistance to stand up against the current forces trying to dismantle rights across the globe.
The invitation: Resist the systems that you see are causing harm. Use your creative power to amplify the voices that are currently being suppressed — whether it’s online or in your community.
3. Creativity helps us imagine a better tomorrow
The American writer and professor Audre Lorde said, “At the same time as we’re surviving in the mouth of the dragon, we also need to be feeding our vision” (interview by Judy Simmons, WBAI, New York 1979.) Beyond our current realities is a better, more just and humane society. Part of a creatives’ “job” is to inspire. To help people see possibilities, and that starts with having the courage to dream. Our ability to imagine better is a first step to dismantle the system we’re currently struggling with.
The invitation: The limitations we face are often artificial constructs maintained by those with vested interests in the status quo. In the Ted Talk Is technology our savior — or our slayer?, author and professor Ruha Benjamin says “We are in many ways trapped inside the lopsided imagination of those who monopolize power and resources to benefit the few at the expense of the many.” This is what 2025 has felt like. I want to extend an invitation to all creatives out there. Keep dreaming of a better way and keep sharing these dreams with others.
There is no right way to be creative. There are no limits to what you’re allowed to imagine.
Creativity doesn’t ask you to fix yourself. It tells you: you’re good as you are. Your expression is unique. And so is everyone else’s.
Creativity is borderless. Creativity is abundance. There is room for differences.
Creativity doesn’t punish you.
There is enough for everyone if we let go of our ideas that there is one right way to do things.
The more we embrace it, the more we get from it. It grows with us. It grows around us. Kind of like love.
Creativity is not about winning. There is no end goal. No winners or losers. How do you measure creativity? You don’t.
Creativity opens doors to other people’s experiences. It helps us feel for, with, and through others. Creativity connects. Creativity tells you to: expand your mind. Open your heart. Relate.
Creativity tells us to try, fail, then try again. What would happen if your mistakes were acts of creativity? What if you could not fail?
Creativity is not orderly. It’s not straightforward. It’s quite messy. We might resist its messiness the same way we resist the messiness of life. But without the twists and turns, the ups and downs, we won’t experience expansion.
Creativity invites us to explore the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. Creativity invites us to sit with it. To look, feel, hear, smell, without attaching meaning to it.
Creativity cares.
This shift from control to creativity isn’t just about personal expression — it’s a fundamental redesign of how we respond to uncertainty. It’s a DesignShift in our collective approach to challenging times. In uncertain times, we need creatives more than ever. Not just to design, write, or build — but to help us imagine new ways of being. To remind us that there is always another way forward.
So, let’s create. Not for approval, not for algorithms, not for perfection. Let’s use creativity to process, resist, and dream of a better future for all.