You're not imagining it - everything is exhausting

CreativeRx: The Age of Exhaustion is causing our collective creative starvation; why this isn't something to *just* blame on technology; the rebellious nature of daydreaming

CreativeRx: Every Sunday, I share a peek into my brain as a Creative Health Scientist - the cultural patterns I’m noticing, the scientific data points I’m collecting, the rabbit holes I can’t stop exploring. It’s your dose of creative thinking in an exhausting, overwhelming world.

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THE AGE OF EXHAUSTION = THE ERA OF INFINITE OPTIONS 🤯

There’s a dark side of creativity that we never really talk about.

When I think about the most basic, fundamental definition of what it means to be creative, it all boils down to this extremely simple question: What if…?

What if things could be different? What if we could try it this way, instead? Oftentimes, this question leads to our inspiration, innovation and ingenuity. We try something new. We experiment and explore.

But, “what if” can also spin out of control. It can spiral into infinite options - leading to unnecessary progress (or worse). It can make us feel like nothing, nowhere, is ever enough.

In my view, we are living in that dark era of creativity right now.

Our creative brains have spun out to say the least. For many reasons, but one of which: We are constantly (never-endingly) exposed to an infinite amount of information - we have more options in an afternoon that our ancestors could have imagined over a lifetime (35,000 per day to be exact).

And, that isn’t “better.” It’s creating one of our biggest, most under-discussed crises of all: Something I call Creative Starvation. A time when we’re producing, imagining, doing more than ever - but feeling completely and utterly depleted.

This past week, I wrote our first Deep Dive of 2026 exploring the science of Creative Health - what it means to live as if everything is a creative act. It was so much fun - and honestly so beautiful - to write. But, one aspect kept nagging at me: What does it really mean to be creatively starved? And, why does that feel so incredibly prevalent - but silent - today?

I’ve been dancing around the answer (frankly, trying to figure it out myself) for a long time. But, I think I finally cracked the code.

We’re living through the Age of Exhaustion.

Not only because our creative brains are spinning out with too many options - it’s also because we’ve removed the very aspects of life that restore our energy, too.

Beauty. Friction. Engagement. Meaning. Expression. We’ve completely decimated the weird, beautiful and even painful parts of life in pursuit of more - because they’re the ones that often fall outside of that linear, optimized path.

The thing is: This didn't just happen to us. It was built. Intentionally. By systems that profit from our constant dissatisfaction:

Tech made infinite options feel…normal: With endless options, every choice became a branching path to more choices. Boredom - the state that used to force our brains to imagine - got replaced by scrolling.

Endless capitalism turned everything into optimization: Sleep, self-care, movement became tracked. Everything can be better, more, faster.

Friction disappeared: When every (seeming) discomfort got solved, we removed the exact conditions creativity needs to be regenerative - challenge.

The worst part? The Age of Exhaustion convinces us that if we stick it out, we’ll finally get to a place where we can take a breath. Stop asking “What if…"?” and start enjoying. Finally start creating. Start existing.

If we get the right amount of sleep. If we choose the right job. If we just, somehow, hit it big.

But, here’s the fascinating thing about What if…? - it was never meant to be infinite.

It’s supposed to open a door - not trap us in a never-ending hallway. It’s meant to activate curiosity, not make us feel constantly dissatisfied.

To me, Creative Health doesn’t ask us to stop imagining different futures.

It actually just teaches us how to choose one - and stick with it long enough to feel alive inside it.

Because, scientifically we know that restoring our energy doesn’t come from complete rest or picking the best option. It’s consistently generated through the 3 things - what I call the pillars of Creative Health:

• Engagement: Being fully absorbed in the moment, not constantly planning the next one

• Friction: Leaning into challenge as a pathway to growth, not something to optimize away

• Making meaning: Experiencing fulfillment within a process, not waiting for an outcome

So, in the Age of Exhaustion, the most radical creative act isn’t continuing to ask: What if this could be better?

It’s saying: This is enough to be here with. This is worth my attention, even if it’s hard. This moment is allowed to exist without becoming something else.

That is how the dark side of creativity can stop draining us - and allow us to begin feeling alive again.

From my brain to yours,

Katina, Creative Health Scientist & Daydreamers’ Co-founder + Chief Science Officer

Tell me what you think: Did this resonate? Comment below or hit reply - I read every response 🫶🏽

This week, I wrote our first Deep Dive of 2026 exploring the full science of Creative Health - the exact research and frameworks behind what it means to live as if everything is a creative act.

It’s the first time I shared our full scientific research in public! Read the full Deep Dive here and tell me what you think! 🧠

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THE AGE OF EXHAUSTION IS…200 YRS OLD 😅

“We are overworked and overstressed, constantly dissatisfied, and reaching for a bar that keeps rising higher and higher. We are members of the cult of efficiency, and we’re killing ourselves…[but] technology didn’t create this cult; it simply added to an existing culture. For generations, we have made ourselves miserable while we worked feverishly.”

-Do Nothing: How To Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving

→ This book by Celeste Headlee came out at the start of the pandemic and was completely transformative in my understanding of where our exhaustion, striving and obsession with “productivity” - particularly because of how long this has been going on. It does a remarkable job of putting it all into perspective - and what we lose when leisure dies from a cultural POV.

SHOULD WE ALL BE “FRICTION-MAXXING”? 🏋🏽

“Friction-maxxing is not simply a matter of reducing your screen time, or whatever. It’s the process of building up tolerance for “inconvenience” (which is usually not inconvenience at all but just the vagaries of being a person living with other people in spaces that are impossible to completely control) — and then reaching even toward enjoyment. And then, it’s modeling this tolerance, followed by enjoyment and humor, for our kids.”

-In 2026, We’re Friction-Maxxing (The Cut)

→ I came across this article last week and wow, does it back up my POV that Creative Health is going mainstream. “Friction” (we chose that word for a very specific reason - and explain it in the Deep Dive) is one of the 3 pillars of Creative Health. And, like I’ve been talking about for a long time, it’s not a waste of time; it’s the entrypoint to our creativity.

THE REBELLIOUS SCIENCE OF DAYDREAMING

I first got into the space of Creative Health because I was obsessed with the concept of daydreaming (side note - that’s why we gave Daydreamers its name 🤓). In my view, it was so misunderstood.

We got in trouble for it as kids because it was “unproductive” or out of line. But scientifically, it is the basis for creativity. It’s where our creative brain truly comes alive.

I went down a rabbit hole reading one of our first piece on Substack about this exact topic. A quick science lesson: When we daydream, our brain enters what neuroscientists call the Default Mode Network (DMN) - a set of seemingly unrelated brain regions that start making connections underneath the surface. It’s exactly where novel ideas emerge and where meaning gets made.

Unlike we’ve been taught, daydreaming is not unproductive; our brain is still hard at work. It just looks different than what we’re taught to value. And, research is continuing to shows that people who daydream more are more creative, better at problem-solving, and have richer inner lives.

To me, it’s one of the coolest, most accessible, most rebellious ways we can push back against the status quo, especially in the Age of Exhaustion.