The People Behind the Creativity: Why We Need to Celebrate Those Who Create...

Dear Readers,

There is something beautiful about watching another human being create. It does not matter whether they are holding a paintbrush, sitting behind a typewriter, playing a guitar, standing behind a microphone, looking through a camera, working in a kitchen, designing something with their hands, or simply sitting quietly and putting words onto a page. Creation begins with an idea, but an idea alone is never enough. Behind every finished painting, every poem, every photograph, every song, every book, every dish, every design, and every piece of creative work is a person who decided to put in the effort to bring that idea to life.

We often see the finished product, but we rarely see everything that came before it. We do not see the failed attempts, the discarded pages, the photographs that did not work, the paintings that had to be started again, the songs that were rewritten, the recipes that did not turn out as expected, or the moments when the creator wondered whether anybody would care. We see the result; the creator lived the journey. That is why I have always believed that creativity deserves to be appreciated, not simply because something is beautiful, entertaining, or successful, but because someone cared enough to create it.

Usually, Louder Than Letters is my Tuesday evening podcast, where I sit down and talk about life, writing, emotions, experiences, relationships, creativity, and the things that sometimes remain unspoken. But this week, I am doing something a little different. Alongside my regular Tuesday episode, I am introducing a special Creative Bowl episode on Thursday at 8 p.m. Indian Standard Time.

This special episode will open a new section of Louder Than Letters, one dedicated to people who create. Artists, musicians, singers, photographers, writers, chefs, designers, makers, performers, and other creative individuals who use their imagination, their talent, their hands, their voices, and their hearts to bring something into this world will have a place in this new space.

For this first special episode, I will be highlighting three individuals. Three creators, three different journeys, and three different forms of expression, but with one common thread: they are all making an effort to create something meaningful. I want to give these individuals more than a quick mention. I want to give them a little time, a little attention, and an opportunity for people to discover the human being behind the work.

That is what I want the Creative Bowl to become. I do not want it to simply be a place where I mention someone’s book, painting, song, photograph, or creation. I want it to be a place where I can stop for a moment and say, “I see what you’re doing. I appreciate the effort you are putting into it. Keep creating.”

We sometimes romanticise creativity. We talk about inspiration, talent, and artistic gifts, but creativity is also work. It requires discipline, patience, persistence, and the willingness to continue even when nobody is watching. A creator may spend hours creating something that another person experiences in only a few seconds. A poem may take a few minutes to read but contain years of life and emotion. A photograph may take a second to capture but years of experience to learn how to see. A song may be only a few minutes long but contain months or years of emotion. A book may take years to write, and a painting may go through countless attempts before the artist finally looks at it and feels that it says what they wanted it to say.

We should remember that the finished creation is only the visible part of the effort. The real journey is often hidden. And that is one of the reasons I want to use this space to appreciate creators. I want to acknowledge not only what they have created, but the courage and persistence required to create it in the first place.

I have never believed that creativity belongs to one particular profession. A musician creates through sound. A poet creates through words. A photographer creates through moments and light. A painter creates through colour and form. A writer creates through stories. A chef creates through taste, texture, memory, and imagination. A designer creates through ideas and structure. Someone working with their hands can create something beautiful that did not exist before.

The form may be different, but the heart of the process is often the same: taking something that exists inside you and giving it a form that another person can experience.

And perhaps that is one of the most beautiful things about creativity. It allows one human being to reach another without necessarily needing to know them personally. A poem can express something that someone else has been unable to say. A song can give shape to an emotion. A photograph can preserve a moment that might otherwise disappear. A painting can make us see something differently. A story can allow us to experience another person’s world. A meal can carry memory, culture, tradition, and love.

In different ways, creativity connects us.

There is another reason I want to create this new section. Creators need creators, and human beings need one another. We need people who understand what it means to sit alone with an idea and wonder whether it is worth pursuing. We need people who understand rejection, uncertainty, disappointment, and the vulnerability of putting something deeply personal into the world and waiting to see whether anybody notices.

Sometimes the greatest thing we can give another creator is not money, fame, or thousands of followers. Sometimes it is simply recognition. It is taking a moment to say, “I saw your work. I listened. I read what you wrote. I looked at what you created. Keep going.”

Those words can mean far more than we realise.

I know this from my own experience as a writer and creator. There are days when the work feels effortless and days when every word seems to fight its way onto the page. There are moments when you wonder whether anyone is listening and whether the effort is worth it. Then somebody reads something you have written, listens to something you have created, or simply tells you that your work meant something to them. Suddenly, the effort has meaning again.

That is why supporting creators matters.

I do not believe every creator is trying to change the world. Some are simply trying to make somebody smile. Some want to tell a story. Some want to preserve a memory. Some want to make somebody think. Some want to make somebody dance. Some want to make somebody cry. Some want to give somebody hope. Some simply create because creating is how they understand themselves.

But perhaps, in their own small ways, all of them make the world a little better.

Creativity gives us another way to understand one another. It can cross boundaries that ordinary conversation sometimes cannot. It can take something deeply personal and turn it into something another person can recognise within themselves. And sometimes, when somebody is struggling, simply discovering a poem, a song, a photograph, a painting, a story, or even a meal created with love can remind them that there is still beauty and humanity in the world.

That matters.

Tonight, Tuesday at 8 p.m. Indian Standard Time, I will be back with another episode of Louder Than Letters. This week’s conversation is a much heavier and more vulnerable one: “The Weight of Unspoken Wounds: How Much Hatred Can One Soul Carry?”

It is a conversation about cruel words, invisible wounds, bitterness, survival, healing, and the decision not to become what has hurt us. It is also a conversation about something I have been learning more deeply through my own experiences: sometimes people do not need advice. Sometimes they do not need somebody to tell them how to fix their lives. Sometimes they simply need someone willing to sit beside them and listen.

Perhaps creativity can do something similar. Perhaps a poem, a song, a photograph, a painting, a story, or something created by hand can sometimes tell another human being, in its own quiet way, “You are not alone.”

And that is one of the reasons I want to make more room for creators on Louder Than Letters.

Then, on Thursday at 8 p.m. Indian Standard Time, I will bring you this special Creative Bowl episode. I am taking a little extra time to choose the three people who will be featured because I do not want to rush through their stories or simply select names to fill a space. I want to discover some amazing individuals, understand what they do, learn what drives them, and give their work the attention it deserves.

I want to know the people behind the creativity. What inspires them? What keeps them going? What challenges have they faced? Why do they create? And what do they hope another person feels when they experience their work?

Because behind every creation is a creator, and behind every creator is a human being. Someone with dreams, someone with doubts, someone who has probably struggled, and someone who chose to keep going anyway.

That is who I want to celebrate.

Not perfection. Not popularity. Not numbers. Effort. Passion. Courage. Imagination. Humanity.

So tonight, join me for Louder Than Letters at 8 p.m. Indian Standard Time as we talk about the weight of unspoken wounds and the journey of finding our way back to ourselves. Then join me again on Thursday at 8 p.m. for this special Creative Bowl episode, where three individuals will have the opportunity to share their creativity and their stories.

Different talents. Different journeys. Different ways of creating. But perhaps one beautiful thing in common: they are all trying to put something meaningful into the world.

And maybe that is what we can do for one another: not necessarily solve every problem, not necessarily have all the answers, but simply stop for a moment, notice the person beside us, appreciate the effort they are making, and say:

I see you. I hear you. Keep creating.

Jacob Mascarenhas
Author • Podcaster • Storyteller