The science-backed movement to strengthen your creative brain - because creativity isn’t a luxury. It’s a human right.
written by Katina Bajaj, Creative Health Scientist & Co-Founder of Daydreamers
We’re living through a Creative Health Crisis.
TLDR; We’re losing what makes us human - and then, calling it “success.”
For decades, we’ve been trained to abandon the very things that make us feel alive - play, rest, curiosity, making things “just because,” thinking for ourselves - because we were taught they were luxuries, distractions or worse, a complete waste of time.
The result: We’re seeing some of the highest rates of burnout, disconnection and cynicism we’ve had in generations. On top of that - we all have this feeling that life is just passing us by, even as we achieve more and more.
These aren't personal failings. And, they aren’t happening at random. This is what creative deficiency looks like.
So, we’re building a movement to help all of us restore our Creative Health.
I’ve never heard of Creative Health. What is it?
Creative Health is what makes us fully alive.
Just like physical or mental health, it’s a distinct (and frankly, the most overlooked) part of our well-being - the one that allows us to feel challenged, fulfilled, and deeply engaged in all parts of life.
And, we do it by strengthening the innate capacities that make us fully human: critical thinking, imagination, play, rest, curiosity, beauty, and expression.
Creative Health is not about “being artistic” or talented. It’s not about fancy tools or getting famous on social media.
Instead, it’s reclaiming the parts of ourselves that have been stripped away by productivity culture, the attention economy, and our collective obsession with optimization.
Who We Are:
Hey there, Katina here 👋🏽🤓
I’m Katina Bajaj, the writer behind this newsletter. I’m a Creative Health Scientist & Co-Founder of Daydreamers. I also coined the term Creative Health and have spent years building the research, frameworks, and science behind it.
With a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University’s Mind-Body Institute, I study how creativity works in the brain - and why it’s the most powerful tool for health and flourishing, especially in the historical moment we’re living through.
My core belief is simple: Creativity isn’t just for artists. It’s a biological tool that all of us have inside - and it’s exactly what gives us our strength, vitality, and capacity to be deeply human.
The why that drives my work mirrors many of the stories in our community. For years, I chased “success” - only to end up burned out, disconnected, and craving something more. It seemed like the higher I climbed, the further I drifted from my innate creativity.
Turns out, I wasn’t broken. I was creatively depleted. And, I’m not alone.
Most of us - upwards of 70% - stop using our creativity once we reach adulthood. We’re told it’s for kids, it’s impractical, and even self-indulgent. We’re conditioned to believe that rest is lazy, play is wasteful, and making things “just because” has no place in a productive, adult life.
But in my view: Creativity isn’t a luxury for the talented, the rich, or the ones with a ton of free time. It’s essential for all of us to survive and thrive. I see it as a human right that reconnects us with our fullest selves.
If this is giving you words to describe something that’s been missing in your life, join me here, every Sunday, to explore the science, experiments, and honestly - magic - of Creative Health. Whether you’re a skeptic, a burned-out high-achiever, or someone who just knows something’s missing - this is for you.
I can’t wait to nerd out with you! 🤓
Dive in: Choose Your Path to Creative Health 🧠
We know every creative brain works differently - so, we designed three ways to plug into our world of Creative Health depending on your curiosity + commitment:
1. CreativeRx (Free) 🧠
Your weekly Creative Health prescription
Why we built it: Science shows our creative brain grows stronger based on the inputs we feed it. CreativeRx is a peek into the way a Creative Health Scientist thinks - and designed to expand the surface area of your creative brain in just a few minutes.
Every Sunday: You’ll get a research-backed note that explores one dimension of Creative Health - why we’ve lost it, how it’s affecting us, and what to do about it.
Who it’s for: Anyone who feels successful but empty, burned out despite doing “all the right things,” or like they’ve lost touch with what makes them feel alive.
Recent topics to meander and explore:
Critical Thinking has always been a luxury. Here’s how we change it
Existential anxiety or liminal space? How the creative unseen helps us transform
2. Deep Dives (Paid - $10/month or $100/year) 🤓
The complete Creative Health curriculum
Why we built it: Our crew kept telling us they wanted more than just inspiration. So, we decided to create Deep Dives - a private space for people who crave a deeper, science-driven path to integrating creativity into their daily life.
This is where we go deep: While CreativeRx explores one dimension of Creative Health each week, Deep Dives give you the complete framework, research, and practices to systematically restore your Creative Health.
What you get:
2x monthly long-form Deep Dives (10-min+ reads)
Full breakdowns of cutting-edge creativity research
Complete Creative Health frameworks and models
Specific, research-backed practices you can implement immediately
The “why this matters right now” cultural analysis
Access to Foundational Creative Health Pieces
The core frameworks that all our work builds on
Diagnostic tools and assessments
Our proprietary research and findings from years of building Daydreamers
Community access
Monthly Office Hours + live discussions with Katina
Member-only Discourse Club
Special interviews and conversations with leading researchers
Plus, early access to…everything!
Explore new frameworks before they go public
Research papers from Daydreamers Labs
Experimental practices and tools we’re testing
3. Daydreamers Labs (Join the waitlist) 🪐
After years of research, we built Daydreamers - the first platform to turn Creative Health into a daily practice. We’re taking Daydreamers to the next level, and while we develop what’s next, we’re inviting people to join Daydreamers Labs: Our research collective exploring the cutting edge of creativity and well-being.
When selected, lab members can participate in:
Creative research sessions and experiments
Testing new Creative Health tools and practices
Shaping what Daydreamers becomes next
This isn’t just *beta testing* - it’s real co-creation with a community that believes Creative Health should be accessible to everyone 🫶🏽
What Our DD Members Say:
“Daydreamers helped me get my life back.”
– Allison, Daydreamers member
There are tons of newsletters out there. Why should I join?
We know your time (and inbox) is limited. But from our view, when you subscribe to Creative Health, you’re not just getting a “newsletter.” You’re - quite literally - part of the growing movement that’s redefining creativity as a health practice for all of us.
Here’s what our community members have shifted when they started strengthening their Creative Health:
Stopped feeling guilty about rest, play, and “unproductive” time
Reconnected with parts of themselves they thought they lost
See burnout for what it really is - creative malnourishment - and how to fix it
Have language for what you’ve been feeling but couldn’t name
Reclaim your capacity to think deeply, imagine, play, and feel alive
Plus, every single subscription, comment, and share helps bring Creative Health to more people who desperately need it.
Join 15,000+ people reclaiming their humanity, one creative practice at a time 🧠
→ Start with CreativeRx (free)
→ Go deeper with Deep Dives (paid)
→ Or expand the movement:
Last idea from Katina + the team 🫶🏽:
We know we’re building something that doesn’t exist yet: a field, a practice, a movement around the idea that creativity isn’t optional - it’s essential for human flourishing.
So, thank you for being part of this. Every single one of you who joins helps prove that Creative Health isn’t just an “interesting” idea - it’s something people are hungry for, need, and will practice.
Let’s make the world a tiny bit more creatively healthy, one brain at a time 🤎🧠
