The science of feeling alive: how creativity, play, beauty + wonder shapes your brain, health - and humanity 🧠
👋🏽 I’m Katina, Creative Health Scientist.
That means I study creativity the way others study sleep or exercise: as a measurable, trainable - often overlooked - pillar of human flourishing.
Most of us (myself included) were taught that creativity is a talent that some people have and others don’t. That it’s just a hobby to do once work is over. That it’s a luxury for those with extra money, resources or time.
The science tells us something completely different - and that’s what I’m here to change for all of us. Because, creativity isn’t a luxury. It’s exactly how we feel alive.
TLDR; about me!
I’m also the co-founder of Daydreamers, an Aspen Institute Health Fellow, a member of the Organizing Committee for the Society of Neuroscience for Creativity and most recently, a TED speaker on what happens when we become play deprived as adults 🤓
I got my Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University and my work is rooted in nearly a decade studying how creativity works in the brain - and how adults of any age (and creative capacity) can restore it.
But more than any of that: I’m a former creative skeptic who, growing up in an immigrant family, I was told creativity was something you did after you were already successful. I spent years studying it before I allowed myself to practice it.
Why become a paid subscriber? 🧠
We have fitness plans, sleep trackers and every type of wellness app - but no framework for our Creative Health?!
Yet, research consistently shows creativity is one of our most essential survival skills. It’s literally how we adapt to change, imagine new futures, stay cognitively flexible and feel genuinely…alive.
By becoming a paid subscriber you are not only helping to support the Creative Health movement - but you’re getting the tools to actively practice it yourself.
For $10/month or $100/year you get access to:
Weekly newsletters on the science of Creative Health:
Every week I share the science-backed interventions, practices and tools to restore your Creative Health through play, curiosity and beauty. They’re specific, actionable and things you can start incorporating into your life right now, no matter if you’re an artist or not.
Exclusive Long-Form Field Guides 🌾 :
Long-form, research-backed deep dives into the science of Creative Health. We unpack one scientific paper or an entire scientific field in the world of creativity and flourishing. Think: the neuroscience of beauty, how inspiration works in your brain, the psychological states that make us most alive.
Discourse Club + Lecture Series:
Access to live gatherings where our community gets to think critically and creatively, together about how creative science intersects with modern life. Sometimes it’s just us and sometimes I bring in people, researchers + thinkers I admire.
Full archives:
Years of research, frameworks and Creative Health science - all in one place. Becoming a paid subscriber (even just for a month!) gives you access to everything I've built so far. There's a lot in there.
First access:
Early invites to Daydreamers research, speaking events, and everything happening in the world of Creative Health before anyone else hears about it.
Whether you realize it or not, your Creative Health is either strengthening or depleting right now. My mission is to help all of us build the survival skills we all need to feel most alive - regardless of our talent, tools or time.
And, if you care about this work being in the world - it’s your way of supporting me in expanding this field to as many people as possible 🫶🏽
What people are saying:
Want to go even deeper? 🧠
Daydreamers is the research lab behind all of this - where we've spent years studying the creative behaviors of thousands of adults and building tools to strengthen Creative Health across the lifespan.
If you want to be part of research sessions, get early access to the products we're building and shape what comes next join the waitlist!
Last thing: Creative Health isn’t just a newsletter.
To me, it’s the seeds of an entire movement.
And, every single one of you who chooses to subscribe helps prove to the world that creativity isn’t some “nice to have.” It’s not something we can demean, defund or deprioritize any longer. It’s essential for our brains, our health and our humanity.
The more of us who believe that? The harder it becomes to ignore.
So thank you. For being here. For caring about this work. For choosing to make your creative brain a priority 🫶🏽🧠
- Katina 🧠
