Your dose of Creative Health is back

Katina and Dupi here 👋🏽 It's been a while since we pondered together.

Hey there!

Katina and Dupi, Daydreamers’ Co-Founders here. How have you been? It’s been quite a while since we spent time together - and we’re so excited to be back in your inbox.

Most importantly, we’re really thankful you’ve stuck around and continued to stay curious about how to live a creatively fulfilling life. We know the Internet can be a weird, fickle place; since we paused this newsletter over a year ago we’ve not only kept our community alive, but gained a lot of new faces (over 16,000 of you!).

Because of that, as our first foray into Creative Health we’re going to share the story behind our journey: how we rediscovered creativity as non-artists and ultimately built Daydreamers, the first and only platform for all people to strengthen their creativity for health, longevity and fulfillment.

So, kick back and buckle up for the download of who we are, what we do and why it’s never been a more important time for our collective Creative Health.

Dupi and Katina, Daydreamers Co-founders

Our journey to discovering Creative Health

Whether we’re new or old friends, you may know us - Katina and Dupi - as the brains behind Daydreamers. Simply put, we’re on a mission to redefine the way we all think about creativity in our world today and turn it into an accessible, science-backed tool for everyone to flourish.

In our view, creativity isn’t just for artists; it’s an innate human trait that directly impacts our mental, emotional and physical health. Creativity is so much bigger than just the final product we make. It’s the most overlooked part of our well-being - and, we believe everyone needs to exercise it more regularly.

But, like many entrepreneurs the early days of our journey was a confusing, windy path that born out of a deep personal need. Personal craving, if you will.

A few years ago, we had a “normal” evening - one that the majority of you reading this newsletter can relate to. Slumped on the couch after a long, repetitive day, we looked at each other and thought: Is this really all there is to life? In adulthood, are we ever going to feel alive again?

We aren’t artists by trade, and in fact, spent much of our early careers actively avoiding creativity in order to climb the ‘work-sleep’ hamster wheel. So, we would have never imagined that prioritizing our Creative Health would be the answer.

But, we did know that something was missing. And most importantly, we knew that feeling burned out, exhausted and completely depleted each day wasn’t the path to feeling alive again, by any means.

So, we spent years looking for that answer - personally and professionally.

Growing up in immigrant homes, we believed that being creative as an adult was only something to do later in life - once you were “successful” first. We thought that unless you were talented or retired, it was frivolous.

But, after Dupi left his high-intensity career in finance, he rediscovered the magic of being creative just for the sake of it; something he hadn’t done since he was a kid. He started turning over every rock imaginable to understand the intricacies of creativity - talking to anyone who would listen and reading anything he could get his hands on (yes, including manufacturer and wholesale catalogs 😅).

As our living room piled up with creative tools to experiment with, Dupi started designing physical and digital worlds of how we could bring it life for everyone - from journal sketches, to powerpoints, to even roping in real architects and app designers.

It wasn’t until Katina got her Master’s in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University that our “why” started clicking. We discovered the power of Creative Health not just from a personal point of view, but a scientific one - particularly for non-artists like us. Katina’s research looked at the impact that creativity can have on our mental, emotional and physical well-being, no matter the time, talent or skills one might have.

It liberated - and redefined - who, what, why and how one could be creative.

Essentially, this research - along with this growing momentum in the field - validated the deeper gut-feeling we had all along: This wasn’t just an us issue - our entire world was in a Creative Health deficit.

We’ll explain exactly what that means in a moment. In essence, we discovered that this problem we were experiencing in our own home was so much bigger than we expected. And, there wasn’t anything to help people like us - those who didn’t consider themselves “creative,” didn’t have a lot of time and gravitated towards science, data and facts.

So, as skeptics, non-artists and scientists ourselves we knew we had be the ones to start a revolution.

What happened: Daydreamers, The Early Days

Our “revolution” started like many do: passionate, energizing and…chaotic.

The early days of building Daydreamers felt like what, we imagine, entering parenthood may be. When you birth anything new, the sheer amazement of how big, expansive and impactful this movement could become was intoxicating. That momentum very much softened the intensity that it required from us - and all we had to give up in order for it to exist.

We were exhausted, but in a very different way than before.

We started chipping away at this huge vision as quickly as we could (with a version of this very newsletter!). And every day, we were hearing from thousands of people around the world - those who never believed they were creative, lost touch with their creative spark or simply found themselves detached from society’s current paradigm. For some reason or another, they resonated with our approach to redefining creativity. We were seeing first-hand that simply by approaching “the problem” as scientists, skeptics and outsiders, we were reaching people who were never spoken to before.

What was the problem we were solving, you might ask? Our first hypothesis was pretty simple: Creativity is more than just fun - it’s good for you, and not enough people do it. So, we need to turn it into a habit; not just a once-a-year activity.

And, by reorienting the creative “goal” to be about improving your mental health, not just painting a pretty picture, we had a hunch that we could expand the group of people who wanted to do it more often, too.

Since science, data and innovation have always been core to what we do, we didn’t just take the existing research for granted. We conducted our own studies with dozens of people to understand the exact impact that creative habits can have on our mental health. And what we found was astounding - by simply engaging in a Daydreamers-designed creative habit for 15 minutes (three times a week), no matter how “good” you felt the outcome looked, we could reduce your burnout by nearly 30%.

Insane - and that was just scratching the surface.

Eventually, we were actually able to pinpoint specific creative acts had a better impact on different areas of your health. For example, painting helped you relax more than making something with clay might.

The more we discovered, the more obsessed, motivated and convinced we became that this problem was so much bigger than we originally imagined. We conducted thousands and thousands of interviews with people of all ages, backgrounds and creative comfort levels to understand their relationship with creativity, burnout and well-being - and each conversation gave us insights into why this problem impacted so many more areas of life than we originally anticipated.

Though we were plenty exhausted, it felt like we were starting to get the recognition this tiny-but-growing revolution needed. Twenty-five thousand folks signed up for the waitlist to try Daydreamers in beta, each sharing the most heartfelt reasons why they wanted to join. Outlets like Fast Company and TIME were featuring our work. Hundreds of members took a chance on us and dedicated their time, effort and openness to experimenting alongside our team.

And then, the dark side of creativity caught up with us, too.

The downside of creativity: Infinite What If’s

We like to say at Daydreamers that human creativity comes down to our natural capacity to ask one simple question: What if…?

Scientifically, it’s the basis for the core functions that make up our creative brain - openness to new experiences, curiosity and flexibility. It also kicks off our hard-wired search for surprise and novelty; the perfect combination that drives us to make something new.

But, that ‘what if’ can also spiral in the wrong direction. The problem - and the beauty - with our creativity is that it’s infinite. And, that potential can be suffocating.

We ended up in our own creativity trap at Daydreamers. With each conversation, discovery and piece of data we uncovered, our universe of impact continued to expand. We found that creativity vastly improved longevity and brain health - and Daydreamers was a particularly helpful tool for aging adults. So, we partnered with senior living organizations, longevity groups and others to meet older folks where they already are.

We also continued to hear from our members how much Daydreamers wasn’t just good for their mental health, but advancing their careers. They were more confident, mentally flexible and innovative - so much so that their managers were noticing. So, we brought Daydreamers to companies of all sizes.

And of course, we were seeing every day the ways that it was making everyone - from new moms to college students - less lonely, more fulfilled and ultimately more alive. In our view, that changed creativity from just a tool for health into its own vertical: Creative Health.

Most would say this is all a good things - especially for a young startup. But, ask any artist, inventor or even creative researcher: the power of creativity also lies in its constraints. When left unchecked, it can start to spin out of control.

At some point, we reached a moment where the vision that kept growing in our heads was so much further along than what we were capable of turning into reality. Quite honestly, the gap between the two was widening so far that our ability to ‘keep up’ - emotionally, technically, literally - was impossible.

So, it might seem radical, but we paused everything and took a Creative Break.

Where we go from here: Returning to our roots

In everything we do, we like to consult the research first. If we know so much about what makes us most creative and most healthy - why wouldn’t we do it?

We know - it’s easier said than done 🤓😅

But, the scientific research is extremely clear on all fronts: the harder you work at solving a problem, the worse outcomes you get.

Not only does it prevent our brain from entering the Default Mode Network, the seat of creative problem-solving, but it obviously leads to burnout, exhaustion, impulsivity (the list can go on).

So, after taking our own Creative Break - something we hope will become the norm for many companies and the future of work - it allowed us to ask ourselves the really important questions: What matters most? Personally and professionally, if we only had this one wild and precious life, what would we be doing? And how can we do that thing most effectively?

Among many decisions, we decided that Daydreamers, the Creative Health Revolution and everything we’re building is it. But, in a world that tells us to do everything all at once, we had to come back to our core and simplify everything we do.

One of the ways that new vision is coming to life is by building the momentum of our community, our movement and our vision in the very place it started: This newsletter.

Each Friday, Katina and our team will explore the science of living a creatively fulfilling life in an increasingly burned out, lonely and technology-dependent world (with the first one dropping later this week!). We’re going to experiment with the format, but you can always trust that no matter what, it will be free, accessible and actionable. It’s core to our mission that everyone has access to quality learnings about their Creative Health 🫶🏽

And finally - the Daydreamers platform is available for all.

Yes, no more beta or waitlist. For those of you who are passionate about what we’re building and want to dive into their Creative Health journey in a deeper way, you can join Daydreamers now. We’ve spent years designing and developing the best Creative Health ecosystem that gives you everything you need to strengthen your creativity for your health, fulfillment and longevity. And even still - it’s just beginning to scratch the surface of our vision and what we have planned to build 🤓.

We like to call Daydreamers a modern “gym” for creativity. The way it works is simple: we give you the tools, exercises and learnings to make your Creative Health an active, consistent part of your everyday life. We know that some of the biggest barriers to strengthening your creativity, especially for non-artists, are not knowing how to get started, not knowing what to do, and then when you finally do create - you feel horrible while doing it.

So, using science and data, we’ve transformed creativity into a targeted exercise and personalized healthy habit that you can do no matter if you have 5 minutes in between meetings or an entire afternoon. Plus, we make it fun 🤓

While we believe so, so deeply in the power of Daydreamers, we know that it won’t necessarily be for everyone. That said, if anything we shared is resonating with you on a deeper level, we seriously welcome you to join our community!

Daydreamers is made for all of us, especially those who feel scared, worried or overwhelmed by their creativity. Plus, it’s the best way to support us, this movement and of course, your own Creative Health.

No matter what - so we’re thankful that you still choose to be here every week with us. We know that the way you spend your “free” time is essential for your health, so we’re really excited to see where this windy, creative, beautiful journey takes us next.

And most importantly, that we’re all on this one wild and precious ride, together. Because when every single one of us is able to harness our innate creativity - it can truly change the world.

See you on the flip -

Katina + Dupi

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