………..when creativity has to ask for permission to exist, it stops being creativity at all.
Creativity is not a checklist. It’s not a template. It’s not a thing you can confine to bullet points on a brand deck. Creativity is a bird in the sky—wild, free, and ever-moving. It’s broken chains. It’s the voice that tells you to jump without overthinking the fall. It thrives in the space between rules, in the audacity of what if?
They saw us. Out there, free. Untamed. Creating without limits. A force—wild, raw, unfiltered. Our work was making waves, stirring conversations, and pulling eyes and ears in our direction. We were the new, the fresh, the different.
And they wanted in.
“Join us,” they said. “We love what you do.”
So we did.
Because isn’t that what we all want? To be seen. To be valued. To be given a space to create without the weight of doing it all alone. So we signed the papers. We stepped in. Ready to do what we do best. But then… something shifted.
Suddenly, the very thing that got us through the door became the thing they wanted to tame.
“Maybe tone it down a little.”
“Can we make this more brand friendly?”
“I love it, but let’s dial back the personality.”
Ah. We see.
You loved us when we were creating outside your walls, but now that we are in, you want to remodel the very thing that made you notice us. You want our creativity, but only in a way that fits inside your lines. Our art, but only if it mirrors your perspective. Our voice, but only if it speaks your language.
And then, before we even realize it, the questions creep in.
“Are we doing too much?”
“Were we ever really that creative?”
“Maybe we should just play it safe.”
And just like that, the light that once shone so freely starts to dim. Not because it lost its power, but because it’s now trapped in the shadows of endless approvals, micromanagement, and a gazillion rounds of feedback.
And you? You sit there wondering why we are not as brilliant as we once were. Bold of you to forget why you noticed us in the first place.
So, no, we are not less creative. We are just suffocating under the weight of your expectations. And when creativity has to ask for permission to exist, it stops being creativity at all.