The Creative Place - where you don’t have to edit yourself OR fit in

Have you ever visited? Hint: it's right there within you :) ☀️🎨📝

Feb 27, 2026

“Holy mother-forking shirtballs, THIS is the Bad Place!”

-The Good Place (TV Show)

If you are unfamiliar with the magical, philosophical, genius, fantastical world of “The Good Place” - don’t worry, this piece is still for you.

(But worry a little! You’re missing out on the brilliance of a show I’ve watched a concerning amount of times, because it’s that good. And note: there is an end of season 1 SPOILER so if you haven’t seen it, please keep that in mind or forget you read that part afterwards 😅)

Whenever I return to rewatch this show that I adore, I am struck by a familiar feeling:

Watching always provides me with the “answers” to something I’m feeling stuck with. And this time, that notion came to me in the form of a whispering idea: The Creative Place.

Although creativity at its core is the experience of play, joy, delight, innovation, inner wisdom, emotional expression, and space to breathe, over the years this innate gift morphed into yet another arena of competition, drive for external validation, and success that is deemed measurable.

The world of dance, music, theater, painting, writing, etc - all the different shapes creativity takes, comes to mind.

And simultaneously, we bring in our various collections of hidden insecurities, potential judgements, and perceived flaws into the room when we create. It’s not intentional, but it’s there.

How many times have you replied to a question or prefaced a conversation with “I’m not very good” or “it’s so bad!” in reference to something you wrote or drew. Whether you remember a moment from when you were 8, 18, or 21, I’m sure something comes to mind.

In fact, before I begrudgingly read the very first poem I ever wrote in a Zoom ‘breakout’ room during a group coaching call I was a part of, I repeatedly said just how bad my poem was. I didn’t even think it counted as a poem. My friend, who I was in the breakout room with, enjoyed what I wrote so much that she encouraged me to read it to the rest of the group. And thus began my love-filled journey of expressing myself through poetry.

One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was this:

“Don’t do things that will take away your creativity: this logical way of thinking doesn’t work anymore, it’s about following YOUR heart’s spark wherever it’s called to go”

I’m 20, if you guessed by the title of my publication (20 Year Old Butterfly 🦋), and didn’t/am not going to college. I have not spent any time trying to learn how to write poetry, or write in general and I won’t ever allow myself to. There’s nothing wrong with choosing that route, but I don’t write to do a “good job,” I write to express how I feel deep inside, and what my soul wants to say. I don’t think when I write, I just write. In fact, it is nearly impossible for me to write a poem using my head. I’ve tried it and it gives me a near anxiety-attack because I can’t do it. The words flow from some sort of magical waterfall in a place that is not my head. I don’t question it.

I hope this offers permission for you if you resonate with my experience of creativity. I feel a bit anxious sharing that because I know other people have a different perspective and to be totally honest, I’m not interested in debating (it’s my least favorite thing to do). But if you feel seen and understood while reading, then it’s worth it for me to share openly.

The Good Place is actually The Bad Place

The Good Place, as the characters knew it throughout season 1 of the show, was actually a rouse. The Good Place did exist, but at that time, the characters were actually in The Bad Place. It looked like a dreamy, sunlight, colorful, wondrous paradise - but it was in fact a facet of hell. (This show is not scary, by the way, incase you haven’t seen it and aren’t a fan of horror (me too)).

In the same way that the dream-world wasn’t quite what anyone thought, we would later find out that the real Good Place was a mess too. A running theme throughout the show is that the system used to judge humans is messed up.

I think the same goes for creativity.

The measurements we use for our own creative expression, as well as our collective judgements on others’ art, is often unhelpful and unnecessary. And because of this, so many intuitive, creative, deeply sensitive souls have no outlet to express because it’s never mentioned as an option.

Creativity seems so natural to me now, like of course!! It’s just a part of human life. But before I began writing poetry, art and writing were the outliers. A pastime, a fun activity - which, they most definitely can be.

But creativity can also be the key to unlock the core of who you are

“If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn’t be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when you find something or someone that does, it’s euphoria.”

-Janet from The Good Place

This is how I feel about poetry, and this is what I feel creativity can be for your innately philosophical, curious, wise soul.

You have a voice. If you have been told you’re “too quiet” or “too loud” - first, that’s untrue. And second, you have an inner voice. A deeper voice. That is your guide for your life.

That is where you can find space to hear your own wisdom, away from the world’s thoughts and opinions, the noise, the chaos. But this place NEEDS to be free from restrictions, rules, scores.

It needs to be a place free of edits, filters, and masks.