Remember when we all wanted to think outside the box?

I remember being in school—
surrounded by group projects and brainstorm walls,
where “think outside the box” was the phrase of the moment.

Creativity didn’t need a purpose.
It was encouraged simply because it sparked something.
Curiosity. Imagination. Joy.

Now?
It feels like we’ve all climbed back into the box,
barely brushing the edges.

We’ve trained our minds not to wander,
but to divide, streamline, and optimize.
Creativity has become a tool—
for productivity, for efficiency, for output.

Even design has flattened.
The iPhone once felt like the future—clean, bold, exciting.
Now it’s just… blank. A polished tool.
Stripped of character. Of play.

And maybe that’s what I miss most:
The slow joy of wandering through my own mind,
looking for a spark.
Just because I could.

Have we optimized the joy right out of our own imagination?