The Creativity Formula: The Story Behind Formula No. 9

Creativity = (Imagination + Knowledge) ÷ Fear²

This is the first formula in The Illustrated Laws of Life, my series of life laws, written as math. It's called Formula No. 9, The Muse Awakening. And it started with something I know very well: fear.

Where it came from

As a creator, I know fear up close. Insecurity. Impostor syndrome, that voice that says you're not a real artist and someone will soon find out. I made this formula for myself first, as a reminder. When the voice gets loud, the formula helps me move past it.

Reading the formula

Read it from the top. Imagination is where every idea starts. Knowledge is what turns the idea into something real. Together, they are your creative power. Underneath sits fear, and it divides everything above it.

Why knowledge?

Because imagination on its own stays in the drawer. You can dream up something beautiful, but to bring it to life, you need to know how. So I keep learning all the time: new tools, new techniques, other people, the world, and myself. Each new thing I learn helps an idea get out of the drawer.

Why is fear squared?

Fear doesn't just take a little away. It divides, and it's squared, so it has a big effect on the result. The good news works the same way. When fear gets smaller, creativity grows faster than you'd expect. Cut your fear in half, and the result is four times bigger.

You can't divide by zero

This is my favorite part. In math, you can't divide by zero. So if fear were zero, the formula would break. I think that's true in life too. Nobody is completely free of fear. Fear is human, and it's part of being real.

So the goal isn't to wait until the fear is gone. The work goes both ways: grow what's on top, your imagination and your knowledge, and make the fear underneath a little smaller, one step at a time.

“Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom.”
Marilyn Ferguson

Why 9 and not 1?

It's the first formula in the series, so why isn't it No. 1? Because the numbers in this series aren't a count. Each one has its own meaning. I chose 9 by feel. Nine is the number of the muses in Greek myth, the goddesses who inspired art, music and poetry. So this formula is a small wake-up call for the muses in all of us. That's where its name comes from: The Muse Awakening.

Look closer

The formula is full of little doodles. Butterflies fly next to Imagination. A book sits next to Knowledge. A sun with a cloud is next to Creativity. And next to Fear, there's a red scribble.

That scribble is there on purpose. Fear brings chaos, and chaos is what makes us freeze. It cuts. It erases. It makes a mess. It stabs. That's why I chose a red scribble for fear.

The Illustrated Laws of Life

Formula No. 9 opens the series. Each formula takes a feeling, a habit or a big life question and turns it into a playful equation, with doodles, color blocks and expressive fonts. More formulas are on the way, and each one will get its own story here on the blog.

You can find Formula No. 9 in The Illustrated Laws of Life collection. Pick the one you'll see every day and add it to your wish list. Then let it remind you: grow what's on top, make the fear a little smaller, and keep making things.