Make Art When the World Is on Fire: Amie McNee TEDx talk's Case for Creating Anyway

When everything feels messy, making art can sound like the last thing you should do. The news is heavy, people are struggling, and you might hear that little voice saying, "Who am I to paint, write, sing, or post a silly video right now?"

Amie McNee's TEDx talk makes a clear point: the world needs your art. Not later, not when life calms down, not when you feel "good enough," but now. Because creativity doesn't just decorate life, it helps you live it, and it can help other people keep going, too.

Stop treating "artist" like a private club

Photo by COPPERTIST WU

A lot of people shut down the second they hear the words art or artist. You might think you can't join the conversation because you "can't draw" or you're "not creative." McNee pushes back on that hard.

When she says art, she means anything you make with the intent to communicate. That means you don't get to opt out just because you're not a painter.

What "counts" as art (yes, you too)

Your creative work can be:

• A YouTube channel where you talk about your favorite Pokémon cards

• Cooking, singing, gardening, writing, or playing piano

• Poetry you never show anyone, or stories you share with friends

If you make something that says, "This is me, and this is what I see," you're making art. Skill level is not the price of entry.

Creativity is the missing piece in self-improvement

You've probably seen the endless advice loop: better sleep, better workouts, better habits, better morning routines. Yet creativity rarely makes the list, even though it changes how you feel in your body.

McNee points to research where people simply made art for 45 minutes. They didn't need talent. They just played. After that short session, cortisol levels dropped. In other words, your stress response eased up because you spent a small chunk of time making something.

Your body responds when you play

This is the part people forget. Creativity isn't only emotional, it's physical. McNee describes research showing benefits like reduced inflammation and lower pain response when you allow yourself time for play and art.

So yes, take the walk. Do the workout. But also make space for 20 minutes of scribbling with pens, singing in the shower, or messing around on a keyboard. If you want a full life, creativity can't stay on the sidelines.

Making art gives you agency when you feel powerless

When the world looks like it's falling apart, you can start to feel tiny. You read the headlines and think, "I can't change any of this." That loss of control can turn into a kind of existential fog where nothing feels meaningful.

McNee connects that feeling to how people cope when the future looks bleak. If you don't see a path forward, quick escapes start to look like the only option. She points to patterns like phone addiction, gambling, porn, and games as ways people try to numb out.

Making art doesn't fix everything, but it does something important: it gives you a place where your choices matter. McNee describes how, when she writes novels, she becomes the god of that small world. She can make change there, and she can feel her own power again.

When you create, you step out of "I can't do anything" and into "I can do this."

Your attention is being stolen, and art helps you take it back

McNee calls attention your most precious resource, and it's easy to see why. Your phone is built to keep you scrolling, and whole industries profit when you stay stuck there.

She shares a striking number: if you spend three hours a day on your phone from age 15 to 79, that adds up to 10 straight years on your phone (not counting sleep), just gone.

Choosing to give your attention to art is a rebellious move in a world that wants you distracted. Writing a poem instead of refreshing an app isn't just a "nice hobby." It's you taking your life back, minute by minute.

Art is activism, not decoration

One of the biggest myths McNee calls out is that art is selfish. You might believe "real" work is policy, science, or direct action, while art is fluff.

She argues the opposite. Art shapes culture, and culture shapes what people accept, fight for, and protect. That makes art political by nature, because it uses your voice and takes up space.

McNee shares an example of a client working in climate change science who felt miserable, while secretly wanting to write romance novels. The guilt came from the idea that creative work is trivial. McNee's point is simple: you don't have to treat art as a guilty pleasure. It can be part of how you show up in the world.

"AI will do it better," and other reasons you're tempted to quit

McNee also addresses the fear that AI will make human creativity pointless. If a machine can generate images, music, and writing faster and cheaper, what's the point?

Her answer is human connection. People don't only consume art for polish. They come for the humanity behind it, including the vulnerability, mess, and imperfections that prove a real person was there.

Your advantage isn't perfection, it's being human.

If you want to place this talk in its larger context, it was delivered through the TEDx program, which you can explore via  the TEDx event format and community.

Leave a legacy that isn't just scrolling

McNee brings it home with a blunt question: what do you want to leave behind?

You can leave a decade of attention to social apps, plus a memory of fear and dread. Or you can leave something made by you. Maybe it's recipes passed down. Maybe it's a garden. Maybe it's poems you write for your kid. The point isn't fame, it's proof you were here, and you made something honest.

McNee's work centers on helping people take creativity seriously, including on her Instagram @inspiredtowrite and The Unpublished Podcast. Her book We Need Your Art was published by Penguin in March 2025, and the title says the quiet part out loud.

Conclusion

If you've been waiting for permission to create, this is it. The world being on fire isn't a reason to stop, it's a reason to make something that steadies you. Take back a slice of your attention, trade it for a page, a song, a meal, a small sketch. Then share it when you can, because your art might be the relief someone else needed today.

Watch the TEDx here: