Rewire Your Brain for Creativity in 5 Minutes with Blythe Harris & Mallory May

About this episode

Blythe Harris and Mallory May discuss redefining creativity and the benefits of engaging in just five minutes of creative practice daily.

Most people don't think of themselves as creative. In fact, research shows that about 75% of adults self-identify as non-creative. But what if the problem isn't that they lack creativity — it's that they've been defining it wrong? Blythe Harris, co-founder and former chief creative officer of Stella & Dot, and Mallory May, jewelry designer and illustrator, created Daily Creative to change that conversation. Their practice is built around mini-c creativity: just five minutes of creative engagement per day — no talent required, no finished product expected — that delivers measurable benefits including lower stress, improved focus, healthier dopamine, and the kind of meditative calm most of us are chasing through much more complicated means. In this episode: the science behind why five minutes works, how Blythe's near-death experience in 1995 became the seed of Daily Creative, why perfectionism kills creativity faster than anything else, and how to start a creative practice that actually sticks — whether you're going through a career transition, entering midlife, managing kids on Zoom school, or just looking for five minutes that are genuinely yours. Follow Duologue: Instagram…

People in this episode

Host: Leslie Heaney

Guests: Blythe Harris, Mallory May

Topics covered

• creativity
• mental health
• personal development
• mindfulness
• artistic expression

Keywords

• creativity
• Daily Creative
• mindfulness
• stress relief
• artistic practice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Daily Creative, Stella & Dot

More episodes of Duologue with Leslie Heaney

• Reimagining Grief: Turning Unimaginable Loss Into a Movement with Kate Doerge · June 10, 2026 · 1h 0m
• American Heroes Revisited with James Patterson and Tim Malloy · May 20, 2026 · 53 min
• What the Warning Signs of Suicide Actually Look Like — with Mark Kaplan · May 13, 2026 · 56 min
• The Puberty Talk: What Every Parent Actually Needs to Know with Dr. Cara Natterson & Vanessa Curl Bennett · May 6, 2026 · 1h 6m
• U.S. Immigration Explained: What the Line Actually Looks Like | Bo Cooper & Austin Fragomen · April 29, 2026 · 1h 9m
• Why Testosterone Levels Are at an All-Time Low with Shalin Shah · April 22, 2026 · 42 min