Grab pen and paper and get in touch with your creative side with Robin Finn.

For most of us, being creative was something we did as a child. Whether painting or molding play-doh, it was about being imaginative just for the fun of it.

Creativity coach Robin Finn aims to help people get that back. “Making things is how humans learn and grow. When we stop growing, we stagnate,” explains Robin. She says studies show that engaging in creative expression increases our sense of emotional and physical wellbeing, decreases stress and even helps us live longer.

After graduating from UCLA, Robin earned a master’s degree from Columbia University and began working at the New York City Department of Health. She married urologist Michael Hyman; the couple had three children and Robin became a stay-at-home mom in Studio City.

“Making things is how humans learn and grow. When we stop growing, we stagnate.”

“I threw myself into raising my three spirited kids and did my best to be conscientious and involved. But after a decade, I felt overwhelmed, lost and irritable, and I didn’t know why,” Robin recalls. “It’s a common conundrum for parents who spend so much time on the care of the kids that they forget to care for themselves. It’s not a great place to be. Nobody gets a medal for losing themselves in their kids.”

She returned to school in 2010 to earn an MA in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica. And through that experience, Robin discovered she loved to write. At the age of 47, she published her first novel.

“Writing Restless in L.A. gave me an outlet to express myself. It also forced me to ruthlessly re-prioritize my life: 1) family 2) writing 3) everything else. This resulted in my writing career blossoming. With time and perseverance, the novel was published—and my kids saw me do it.”

The book sowed the seed for her next endeavor, an eight-week course she created called “Heart. Soul. Pen.” Through stream-of-consciousness style writing, Robin guides students to discover their creative spark. As with her own personal experience in exploring her creative side, students do not know exactly where it will take them or what it will ultimately look like. But that is the beauty of any blossom.

For more, check out Robin’s episode on the SheSez with Linda Grasso podcast, available across all platforms—as well as at shesez.com.