I read something recently that made me laugh:

“Creative people don’t have a mess. They just have ideas lying around everywhere.”

I actually stopped where I was, looked around the office and burst out laughing because of how accurate it felt.

I even took a photograph of the shelf behind me.

It sits just below where I usually have my laptop for Zoom calls. I like to stand when I’m working sometimes. Different energy. Different view of the room. Different perspective. There’s a whiteboard nearby too, where I scribble little notes to myself before sessions so I can stay focused on the person in front of me instead of constantly looking down at paperwork.

But that shelf…

Sweet suffering jebus.

It’s like the dumping ground of my brain.

There are photo frames, random notes, workshop props, leaflets, bits of paper sticking out of books, gardening catalogues and a doll sitting there looking slightly possessed if I’m being honest.

Most people would probably look at it and think the place was chaotic.

But actually, everything on that shelf has a purpose.

Those are the things I use regularly when I’m working with people. Visual props. Examples. Conversation starters. Things that help me explain concepts or help clients see things differently. The bits I use most stay there because there’s no point tidying them away only to drag them all back out again the next day.

And underneath that shelf sits a basket full of notebooks.

That basket is basically my brain in physical form.

I’m what I affectionately call “a list bitch”.

I said that to someone recently and the look on their face nearly finished me altogether.

But it’s true.

I need somewhere for thoughts to go.

If everything stays swirling around in my head, it becomes noise. The minute I write things down, I can step back from them. I can see patterns. Priorities. Possibilities. Perspective.

Writing things down helps me organise thoughts, but more importantly, it helps me use them.

There’s a lot of information rattling around inside this fifty-something-year-old brain of mine and I’ve realised over the years that my notebooks are how I make sense of it all.

There’s a notebook for everything.

Workshops. Training sessions. Networking events. Conversations with interesting people. Business ideas. House projects. Personal development work. Random thoughts that arrive at ridiculous hours of the night.

If I meet someone whose values align with mine, I write their name down so I can reconnect later. It means I can stay present in the conversation instead of panicking about remembering everything.

That’s important to me.

The notebooks allow me to park things safely instead of trying to carry them all mentally.

And honestly, when I look at that basket filled with notebooks and scraps and sticky notes poking out everywhere, it doesn’t make me feel stressed.

It makes me feel proud.

Because that mess is evidence of curiosity. Creativity. Thinking. Learning. Building. Exploring.

It’s evidence of a mind that is alive and engaged with the world.

And the funny thing is, the systems I use for myself are often the very things that help me support my clients too. I help people take their own mental jumble and create perspective from it. Not perfection. Just enough clarity to breathe a little easier.

So no, creative people probably don’t have mess.

We just have ideas lying around everywhere.

And maybe as you look around your own space today, it’s worth asking yourself whether what you’re looking at is really clutter…

…or simply evidence of a mind that’s busy creating a life.

Word Count: 602 Words
Date: 24th March 2022
© SineadCKavanagh