Let’s be real. If I’m starving and exhausted on a Wednesday night, I will 100% grab that frozen burrito out of the freezer and call it dinner. But would I call it good? Not exactly.
Now imagine a different kind of meal. One where you take your time browsing your local farmers market, choosing the tomatoes that feel just right, chatting with the sourdough guy, maybe even planning your menu based on what looks and smells the absolute freshest. You get home, put on music, chop, stir, simmer. The scent fills your kitchen, and when you sit down to eat, it’s not just a meal–it’s an experience. That’s slow food. And it’s not just about what you eat; it’s about how you make it.
Here’s the thing: creativity works the same way.
In the age of AI, we’re all standing in the metaphorical freezer aisle. You want a poem? A song? A logo? A painting? A marketing campaign? AI can crank it out in seconds. And just like that frozen burrito, it might do the job. But if we rely only on the fast, easy version, we lose something essential: the process.
Creativity isn’t just about the final product, it’s about what happens in your brain (and your heart) when you take the long way. When you doodle without a plan. When you write a story and then rewrite it and then throw it away and start over. When you try to paint the sunset and realize halfway through that it looks more like a lopsided pumpkin, but keep going anyway.
Just like slow food, slow creativity feeds us in a different way. It keeps the curious, nonlinear, playful parts of our minds alive. It teaches us patience and perseverance. It helps us make meaning. Not just output.
AI is here to stay, and it’s a powerful tool. But if we only use it as a shortcut, we risk turning the most human parts of ourselves into frozen meals. Efficient. Yes. Predictable. Yes. But, kinda bland and definitely not inspiring.
So let’s start a movement. Call it From Scratch. Call it Slow Made. Call it Brain to Page. Call it whatever you want. But the next time you sit down to make something, pause for a moment. Give yourself permission to linger. To explore. To savor the process.
Because that’s where the flavor is.
