“I felt like a bird that couldn’t fly” (Thiago Maia bonus episode)

Summary

Episode Overview

Episode Title: “I felt like a bird that couldn’t fly” (Thiago Maia bonus episode)
Podcast: Daring Creativity. Daring Forever.
Host: Radim Malinic
Date: September 25, 2025
Guest: Thiago Maia, Brazilian animator, designer, and creative based in London

This bonus episode revisits and deepens the conversation with Thiago Maia, whose journey through creativity, business, and personal struggle provides an honest look at the challenges behind the scenes of a creative life. The focus is on mental health, authenticity, and the hard truths about success and happiness in the creative industry.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Letting Go of Perfectionism and Embracing Authenticity

• Radim (Host) reflects on Thiago's honest self-assessment:

  • Cites the pressure within creative industries to measure up to high standards and perfect portfolios.
  • Emphasizes the importance of "showing up with all your doubts, insecurities, and imperfections—and making them count." ([01:13])
  • Quote:

    “Being honest with what you can do and how you can do it, it goes against the toxic perfectionism that can paralyze so many people.” — Radim [01:13]

• Thiago on his creative identity:

  • "I like to say more like a magician. I solve people's problems in a creative way. I'm not the best animator in the world, I'm not the best designer in the world, but I make shit happen. That's what I do." — Thiago [00:53]
  • The idea of execution over idealization—valuing action and authenticity above waiting for perfection.

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2. The Impact of Depression on Creative Life

• Thiago's struggle with mental health:

  • Opens up about experiencing depression during and after COVID-19, despite professional success ([02:25]–[03:26]).
  • Discusses losing enjoyment in both personal and professional achievements, simply “ticking boxes” without fulfillment.
  • Quote:

    “I lost the enjoyment of the process… there I feel I lost the happiness.” — Thiago [02:25]

• Host's perspective:

  • Explains how depression can still linger (“hangover of depression or the residue of it”), impacting both motivation and the ability to find happiness in success ([03:26]).

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3. Creative Freedom vs. Feeling Trapped

• Thiago on happiness and freedom:

  • Associates happiness with freedom, both creatively and personally.
  • Laments how running a business, being in a relationship, and parenthood each brought their own forms of limitation rather than liberation.
  • Memorable moment:

    “I felt trapped. I felt a bird inside a small cage, then couldn't fly.” — Thiago [05:43]

• Reflection by Radim:

  • Recognizes the devastating effect of lost freedom on a creative's work, relationships, and overall well-being.
  • Suggests that true creative fulfillment is tied to the privilege of pursuing work on one’s own terms.

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4. The Stigma Around Mental Health & the Importance of Help

• Thiago on vulnerability and therapy:

  • Shares his journey from avoiding any discussion of mental health (“boys don’t cry, you just move on”) to seeking therapy, partly due to encouragement from a friend.
  • Identifies generational resistance to therapy and the dangerous effects of suppressed feelings.
  • Quote:

    “I was in a situation then… I was like in autopilot… just going to try and survive. And it hit me really badly. That's why I love sharing thy story... I realize as being like a 80s kid, I realize we grow up like swallowing that shit. Boys don't cry, you just move on. The only way to go is pushing through.” — Thiago [07:58]

• Host’s call to action:

  • Encourages listeners to confront their own “baggage” and seek help, breaking the cycle of silent suffering ([09:05]).
  • Quote:

    “You just drag that baggage with you on your back to another day, to another destination, and it’s never going to get lighter... that baggage just doesn't go away until you really empty that bag above it all and tell yourself, how much of a person do you want to be going forward and how much of that heaviness do you want to carry forward?” — Radim [09:05]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Thiago:

  • "I'm not the best animator in the world, I'm not the best designer in the world, but I make shit happen. That's what I do." [00:53]
  • "I lost the enjoyment of the process… there I feel I lost the happiness." [02:25]
  • "I felt trapped. I felt a bird inside a small cage, then couldn't fly." [05:43]
  • "I didn’t even give a fuck... I was like in autopilot, in automatic and I didn’t even think. I was just going to try and survive." [07:58]
  • "Boys don’t cry, you just move on. The only way to go is pushing through." [07:58]

• Radim (Host):

  • "Letting go is part of self acceptance because saying what you can do and how you can do it creates a space for you." [01:13]
  • "There’s never such thing as the end of problems. And we do see happiness as the ultimate sort of definition of freedom. But maybe it’s just contentment, maybe it’s just not needing to fight another battle." [06:10]
  • "That baggage just doesn't go away until you really empty that bag above it all." [09:05]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:53 – 01:13: Thiago describes his creative identity and approach.
• 02:25 – 03:26: Discussion on depression, “ticking boxes,” and losing joy in achievements.
• 04:48 – 06:10: The difference between creative freedom and feeling trapped; bombshell “bird in a cage” metaphor.
• 07:58 – 09:05: Thiago’s candor about mental health stigma, therapy, and the struggle to express vulnerability.
• 09:05 – End: Host’s reflections on the universality of creative struggle and encouragement to listeners.

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Episode Tone and Takeaways

• The conversation is raw, vulnerable, and deeply honest, shining a light on the internal battles many creatives hide behind outward success.
• Both Thiago and Radim champion authenticity and self-compassion in facing the ongoing challenges of creative lives—urging listeners to value the messy process, seek help when needed, and redefine what freedom and happiness mean.
• Thiago’s imagery of “a bird in a cage that couldn’t fly” underscores the cost of unaddressed restriction, both internally and externally.

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This episode is a must-listen for those experiencing similar struggles, anyone working creatively under pressure, or listeners seeking reassurance that even accomplished creatives face profound challenges—and that nobody has to carry their weight alone.

Transcript

[A]

Hey, welcome to this bonus episode of the Daring Creativity Podcast. This is the BONUS Episode number 15. And as you might now know, this is where I revisit the interview published earlier in the week, providing me with the opportunity to zoom in on a few standout moments for extra value and meaning taking time to digest the goodness my guests share with me every week. And this week I was chatting with Thiago Meier, a Brazilian animator, designer, creative who now lives in London. And. And the episode that got published a few days ago, well, it had very minimal edits because what we recorded went out. It was such an honest conversation about things that matter, the creative humans working and living today. And thank you to those who've already sent such nice messages about it because it's resonated with many.

[B]

I've been designing animator for the last 26 years, but I feel myself more nowadays. I like to say more like a magician. I like solve people's problem in a creative way. I'm not the best animator in the world, I'm not the best designer in the world, but I make shit happen. That's what I do.

[A]

So the conversation started with Thiago being very honest about what he thinks. And it's not that English self deprecation, it's more about the fact that being honest with what you can do and how you can do it, it goes against the toxic perfectionism that can paralyze so many people. I have to say that in the creative industry we're constantly bombarded with incredible portfolio and highline reels and I can only make you feel like an imposter. But when Thiago said, you know what, I just make it happen. And I go back to something I've said many times on this podcast is know how good you are, is how good you want to be or how good you accept yourself to be because when you do that. And this resonates back to conversation with Mirali Patel, that letting go is part of self acceptance because saying what you can do and how you can do it creates a space for you. Because when Thiago said, look, I'll make shit happen, it just represents the execution of over ideation. And I just like the way he opened the conversation because it opened the way to say, look, I am who I am and we're going to get really deep.

[B]

I'm still struggling to get back. I still have an ups and down. I was hit by not just all this mental breakdown, but we being hit by the industry being really bad in the last couple two years. If the industry was good, probably would be easier. But I think that's all part of the lesson that I needed to learn. And I need to learn hard. Because all my life I, as I told you, I focus on something. I push through and I get what I wanted and I'm a person. Then therapy made me to understand I'm a person. Then I create goals, but I create a list and I go and tick and I tick every single goal I put on my list. But I don't enjoy the process. I lost them through disease, as in a relationship, a parenthood, or a work. I lost the enjoyment of the process. And there I feel I lost the happiness.

[A]

The main part of our conversation was about Thiago's struggle with depression. Depression came around Covid time, and it's created a lot of negative experiences, negative outcomes, and it was very honest and beautiful from Thiago to say, look, I was so deep in all of this that I just didn't care about what I had to do. And he said he's still not through all of it. Something that came through depression wasn't something that he thought he would ever have to struggle with. But it was at a time where even though things were really good on paper, they didn't manifest themselves in his life. And even though he's achieved everything he set out to do with his successful studio, international recognition, financial stability, he found himself profoundly unhappy. And understand that moment. He talked about the fact that he's still working through his depression, the hangover of depression or the residue of it. And even though he's not enjoying some of the goals that he has to create for himself and just manually take them off, he doesn't enjoy the process. But that process is ultimately what is going to get him through.

[B]

I think happiness for me is having freedom. I think happiness it is having freedom. And I think running the business, a lot of people confuse that, especially like the young generation. They say, ah, I'm gonna open a studio. That's the reason I open. I gonna direct my own work. I'm gonna do the things I love. Yeah, but once you are business, you have bills to pay, you have stuff and you need, or you have a few partners, then take off everything else, or you need to run everything and come for a place then I didn't understand any of them. I need to learn on the go. I think that really burns me out. And I didn't have the freedom to create what I wanted. My marriage didn't give me the freedom. At some point then, as I want to Be. I'm not saying freedom to be a couple, but not being a couple. But it's the freedom as a person and in the relationship, the freedom to be the father I wanted to be. So I started being really unhappy because I felt trapped in the loop of relationship, work, parenthood, all that things. Then none of them was making me happy. But I think what was. I felt trapped. I felt a bird inside a small cage, then couldn't fly.

[A]

This is part of the conversation where we really talk deep about how the manifestation of depression had very strong impact on creative life, on personal life, relationships, family, parenting. Because feeling like a bird inside a cage that couldn't fly is the antithesis of creative life. Most people do not want to feel any element of being closed off, having limitations, because ultimately we dream about creative freedoms in a way that we want to sometimes do what we want to do the way we want to do it. And if something stands in our way, it can be devastating. I think with times in our lives we learn that to be able to do whatever you want to do when you want to do is a massive privilege. Because if you want to live the high stakes game, be a parent, have run your own business, there's no low hanging fruit. It's more about the fact that you really want to push yourself and that comes at price because none of this stuff was ever meant to be easy. I'll repeat myself. There's never such thing as the end of problems. And we do see happiness as the ultimate sort of definition of freedom. But maybe it's just contentment, maybe it's just not needing to fight another battle. Not having the freedom to express himself had a devastating impact on his studio, on his family, on everything. And being able to say that's how I felt and that's what I wanted to do and changing things, it's very powerful.

[B]

I said in the talks, in the lectures I do, I didn't even give a fuck. I, I was in a situation then didn't. I was like in autopilot, in automatic and I didn't even think I was just going to try and survive. And it hit me really badly. And that's why I love sharing thy story when I'm going through. Because I realize as being like a 80s kid, I realize we grow up like swallowing that shit. Boys don't cry, you just move on. The only way to go is pushing through. And so I never really spoke. I didn't even have a vocabulary to talk to people about what I'm feeling until I met a friend and he said, man, why you don't talk if you want to recommend you to my therapist. And I used to hate the word therapist because my ex wife used to, you need to do therapy, you need to do therapy. You need to do therapy. And I said, fuck, I don't need to do therapy. I know my problems. I need just focus and keep going. And that's not reality. And I think most of the 80s people now is doing all in the therapy is the therapy time. But I start opening to people wherever.

[A]

You are in the world listening to this. The approach to mental health and fixing mental health is still wishy washy. You get maybe some people and some layers of society are a little bit more attuned to the fact that we can get help. Some societies, even as developed as they might be, might still not have the best understanding of mental health or ways to help people. Because some of these things, and it seems really strange to be saying this in 2025, we are still getting to understand our mental health. We're still getting to understand things that make us not function really well. And the disabilities or mental health is not always obvious, it's not visible, and it's not always something that people want to share. So Thiago talked about the fact that boys don't cry, you just move on. And what happens, you just drag that baggage with you on your back to another day, to another destination, and it's never going to get lighter. In fact, even though you're not adding much of a new stuff to that baggage, it still gets heavier and heavier until you deal with it. So I would encourage you, if you feel in a similar position or you just curious, listen to the conversation with Thiago because he is someone who clearly struggled, clearly struggled expressing himself about what he feels. There was definitely a shield or manliness about the fact that even though people surrounding him suggested that he gets help, he thought it's not something that he would ever do. And luckily he found that help through other people in his life who opened conversations, showed him a way into therapy, showed him a way of solving his problems. Because as I just said, that baggage just doesn't go away until you really empty that bag above it all and tell yourself, how much of a person do you want to be going forward and how much of that heaviness do you want to carry forward? So yeah, my conversation with Thiago is one of those that has resonated with so many people already and it's been only a few days since it's been released because it's honest, and you are most likely to hear some of the stuff that is relevant to you and some of the stuff that you might be going through or have gone through. And as you know, one of the reasons why I've started this podcast is to really shine a light on the fact that we are so unique, yet all equal in life and creativity. So thank you for joining me on this bonus episode, and I look forward to seeing you next week.