About ten years ago, I graduated from the art academy in Maastricht. Over the past decade, my artistic practice has taken me in many directions: I've made, collected, researched, initiated, and experimented with all kinds of things. What initially drew me to the arts was the sense of freedom, the space for expression, and the idea that you could shape your own way of living and working.

But somewhere in the background, I don't think I was ever truly interested in building a career out of my artistic practice. I was much more interested in what that artpractice had to teach me. Being an artist has given me an incredible amount: a way of seeing, thinking, and working that I still carry with me every day. A curious, inquisitive, and open mindset that I will continue to cherish and embody, regardless of the context in which I work.

Over time, I realized that the things I enjoyed most about my artistic practice (imagining, connecting, organizing, designing, and presenting) also appear in many other forms of work. In fact, the work I do today often feels even more creative, because it allows me to collaborate with others and help bring meaningful and creative projects and initiatives into the world.

I'm sure I will draw, photograph, write, collect, or build things again in the future, but as part of life itself, not with the intention of maintaining an artistic practice or building a career around it. I'm not done being an artist. The curiosity, experimentation, desire to make things, and need for freedom are all still there. What I have left behind is the idea that everything I do needs to exist under the banner of an artistic practice. Creativity is difficult to define and even harder to contain within a single form. In fact: it has no form. It is just pure exhilarating energy that moves you places and puts you to work.

Ultimately, what I value most about the artistic mindset is the belief that almost anything can be made possible. That dreams can be turned into reality. That an idea doesn't have to remain a fantasy. If you can imagine something, chances are you can also create it. That sense of wonder, trust, and belief in possibilities may be the most valuable gift the arts have given me.

In the end, perhaps the greatest artistic output is learning how to turn your own life into a work of art.