This weekend, I went to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to celebrate the launch of best-selling author Suleika Jaouad’s latest book, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life. Jaouad, who is in remission from leukemia for the third time, writes so beautifully about her experience. She’s a master at harnessing creativity as a coping mechanism. This book is partly a memoir and includes writing prompts and short essays from more than 100 contributors, from Gloria Steinem to Sarah Ruhl.

Jaouad’s husband, Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste, co-hosted the event and buoyed the audience with songs on the melodica, piano, and even a sing-along between readings. The pair met at band camp as pre-teens and spoke movingly about the resilience that comes from creating freely as kids, without fear of judgment or rejection. The Book of Alchemy is a guideline of sorts for harnessing that unbridled creativity, and I look forward to diving in.

Speaking of that hard-to-bottle creative energy of kids, I recently spoke with the co-founders of The Prep, a professional performance studio with locations in New York and New Jersey that’s now expanding to California. The studio serves more than 1,500 students of all ages, both in person and virtually, with on-camera technique classes, audition workshops, musical intensives, and more.

“I really love working with kids from 7 to 13. They’re so moldable, like sponges—still so curious and open,” said co-founder Jessi Clayton. “There’s such an honest way of learning and taking in information. It’s so special and beautiful. Being able to help an 8- or 9-year-old tell a complex story and share something really beautiful feels so special to me.”

Co-founder Theresa Pittius points to crossover classes, where advanced kids join adult classes as guest artists, as some of her favorites. “It’s nice for the adults to remember what it was like to be playful and fun and use their imagination and let loose, and it’s good for the kids to see the adults and their professionalism.”

Added Pittuis, “We’re training this little army of rock stars—turning them into professionals, teaching them on-set etiquette and professionalism, while also playing with the imagination and keeping it really unique and alive for these little kids. Imagination is everything.”

Check out The Prep’s offerings, including a virtual workshop on May 7 focused on self-care and mental wellness for creatives of all ages.

Also, take a look at this piece in American Theatre about how students at California’s Altadena Arts and Eliot Arts magnet schools performed at Center Theatre Group after their school production was halted by the wildfires. An incredible example of creativity as healing.