Am I A Creative Genius Or Am I A Pretender?

Take It or Leave It Creative Advice

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Hey @just.joy.04 on Instagram,

Thanks for the question. I’m going to paraphrase it a little if you don’t mind.

You basically asked, “How do I know if I’m creative or not?” but I want to take this a step further—

Is that punchy enough?

I love this question because I think every creative person has asked themselves some version of it at some point. I’ve always seen myself as a creative person. When I was a kid, I was making movies with my neighbors, writing songs, sketching out comic books, designing skateboards—if I had an idea, I wanted to make it.

But creativity isn’t just about what you make. It’s about how you see the world. And you actually answered your own question with one keyword in your original message: curious.

Curiosity is the foundation of creativity. It’s the ability to ask, “What if?” and then chase the answer. If you find yourself questioning, exploring, and looking at the world from different angles, you’re already proving that you have the creative mindset. In that sense, everyone has the potential to be creative. The real difference between a “creative genius” and someone who feels like a pretender? One keeps making things despite the doubt.

And with curiosity comes doubt. Or, as it’s more commonly known, imposter syndrome.

When you choose to live a creative life, engaging with your creativity every day, it can feel isolating. Most people—whether they actively choose to or not—aren’t living like that. They aren’t questioning the world, experimenting, or chasing their own ideas. They’re reacting to what already exists.

And when you’re someone who’s trying to create your own world instead of just consuming the one that’s been handed to you, it’s easy to feel misunderstood.

There are people who are so wrapped up in the discourse of the world that other people are creating that they can’t relate to someone who’s trying to build something new. And when that happens, you start wondering if you’re the one who’s wrong. Maybe you aren’t creative. Maybe you’re just delusional. Or selfish.

I experience this at least once a week.

I ask myself, What the hell am I doing? Why would anyone listen to me? Who in their right mind would ask me for advice? Who would actually like my work?

But the truth is…