What does creativity mean to you?

Creativity is therapy,
self-discovery,
a way to reduce your thoughts like a sauce in a pan,
till all you’re left with is a concentrated, thick syrup,
preserved and bottled, but on canvases, notebooks, and diner napkins.

The greatest effect that creativity has on my life is not in its existence,
but in its dire absence;
my heart and mind speaks to me in riddles that only creativity can help decipher,
so without it, I am awash with tangles and short tempers,
until at last the tantrums drive me to write, play, sing, or simply express aloud,
my volcanic eruption of unsolidified self
careening down my cheeks and leaving scars on my face (and grey hairs on my head).

Better that I indulge the creativity,
more for what it helps relieve, than for what it helps provide.