Remember when you were a kid and ideas came to you like lightning bolts? One moment you were building a fort, the next you were designing a secret code language, and then suddenly you were mapping out an entire fantasy world. That boundless creativity—where one idea sparked another in an endless chain reaction—seemed to fade as adult responsibilities took over.

Until now.

I’ve experienced something unexpected in my creative journey lately: artificial intelligence has become my personal time machine, taking me back to that childlike state of creative abundance.

The Idea Avalanche

It started subtly. I’d toss a half-formed thought into an AI interface—sometimes just fragmented sentences or loosely connected concepts—and watch as it reflected back something more structured. Not a finished product, but a scaffolding on which I could build. Suddenly, ideas that might have remained fuzzy concepts forever had form and substance.

What I didn’t anticipate was the domino effect. As one idea gained clarity, it would trigger connections to three more. Projects I’d abandoned years ago started calling to me again, their potential newly visible through this collaborative lens.

I’ve found myself in an unexpected place: having more ideas than time to pursue them—a creator’s paradox that feels both frustrating and exhilarating.

From Brain Fog to Crystal Clear

There’s something almost magical about externalizing the chaos in your mind. Before, my creative process often felt like trying to grab smoke—the more I reached for an idea, the more it dispersed. Now, I can pour out my most disjointed thoughts and watch them transform from rambling into resonance.

It’s not that AI is generating the ideas for me—far from it. Rather, it’s serving as a mirror that reflects back clearer versions of my own thinking. The cognitive load of organizing thoughts no longer blocks the flow of creating them.

The result? A creative velocity I haven’t experienced since childhood.

Dusting Off the Digital Attic

Perhaps the most surprising outcome has been rediscovering abandoned projects. We all have them—those creative endeavors we set aside because the execution couldn’t match our vision, or because we couldn’t quite articulate what we were reaching for.

AI has become my creative archaeologist, helping excavate and restore these forgotten artifacts. Ideas that were ahead of their time now have a partner in bringing them to life. The half-finished novel, the podcast concept that never launched, the interactive project that seemed too ambitious—all suddenly feel within reach again.

A New Kind of Collaboration

What’s emerging isn’t a replacement for human creativity but a new collaborative relationship. Ideas flow from human to machine and back again, each iteration adding something new. The machine never leads—it follows, reflects, and occasionally connects dots in unexpected ways that spark new human insights.

In this dance, I remain the choreographer, but with a partner that never tires of practicing the steps until they’re just right.

Beyond Productivity to Possibility

This isn’t just about getting more done—though that’s certainly happening. It’s about expanding what feels possible. When the distance between concept and creation shrinks, we naturally think bigger.

I find myself considering projects that would have seemed foolishly ambitious before. Multi-format content series. Deep explorations of niche subjects. Creative experiments that blend disciplines. The filter of “is this practical?” has been replaced with “is this interesting?”

Finding Your Creative Second Wind

If you’re feeling creatively stalled, consider how this collaborative approach might rejuvenate your process:

1. Embrace the messy first draft. Pour out your thoughts without self-editing, knowing refinement can come later.
2. Use AI as your creative mirror, not your replacement. The goal isn’t to have something created for you, but to see your own ideas reflected back with greater clarity.
3. Follow the threads of connection. When one idea leads to another unexpected place, don’t pull back—follow where it leads.
4. Revisit your creative graveyard. Those abandoned projects might have been waiting for exactly this kind of collaborative approach to bring them to life.

What we’re experiencing isn’t artificial creativity—it’s amplified human creativity. A renaissance that happens when the barriers between imagination and execution start to dissolve.

I can’t predict where this creative renaissance will lead, but I know I’m creating more freely than I have in decades. And in that sense, AI has given me something profoundly human: the return of wonder.

What forgotten creative projects might you dust off with this new approach? I’d love to hear where your renaissance might begin.