Creativity Is All About Listening to the Voice in Your Head

And letting it express itself through you

Have you noticed how easy it is to create when you’re all alone and in a quiet place? On many occasions, I’ve opened my laptop to write without any idea, but somehow, I start to write, and ideas start to pour. I’ve noticed that even if I have something to say but try to write in a noisy place, it’s almost impossible to write anything down. In a quiet place, I just listen to myself and let my mind takeover

Musicians are that way too. They hear a sound in their head, and they try to recreate whatever they’ve heard in the studio. We all have creativity within us. We all have that voice that’s trying to express itself through us.

The people who are popularly tagged as creatives have mastered the art of allowing the voice to express itself freely.

Think about an artist that makes abstract designs. How do you think they came up with the idea? It’s not completely from what they’ve seen, but from the eyes in their minds.

We all hear and see things in our minds, but many times, we discredit them because it would feel like we’re the ones just talking, and it’s nothing serious. Yes, your inner voice sounds like you, has your accent, and many people would argue that it is just you talking to yourself, but you shouldn’t wait until you hear a completely different voice before you know that it’s your inner voice speaking.

See your inner voice as your friend. People call them different things; I call it my guardian angel or the plain-old ‘my mind.’ The general term is the subconscious mind, though. But whatever you call it, there’s a voice in your head that’s there to serve you.

But if you don’t listen to it, you wouldn’t benefit from it.

We are all on a mission to find ourselves. We try new things, go to new places, and travel, all in the name of finding ourselves. But it’s more about finding our voice because the ‘self’ we’re seeking is and would always be within us. We just have to learn to listen to it.

And in all the noise, distractions, and activities in the world, listening to yourself can be difficult.

Traveling can be helpful too because it allows you to think and look into yourself due to the different circumstances. You see people with different culture thriving and surviving. You start to see that your way of life is not the only way. And all the while, you’ll be in your head having a conversation with your mind trying to figure things out.

It’s one of the reasons why Universities are essential. Many people find themselves or their voice in the University. You discover things in themselves that they hadn’t noticed before. You make mistakes, learn, and adapt to new realities. The absence from home lets you look inwards to see how you can adapt.

Looking inwards is where all creativity begins. Carl Jung said:

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

You can travel all you want, meet as many people as you like, and stay away from your comfort as much as possible, but if all those activities don’t make you more reflective, you’ve wasted your time because that’s what traveling and being alone gives you. You have to look deep into yourself to see what you want.

You have to get familiar with listening to your inner voice if you want to have something to produce continually. The good thing about it is, the more you use what the inner voice suggests, the more ideas it gives you.

It’s just you appreciating it for its excellent job, and the more appreciative you are, the more you get ideas.

“The problem with introspection is that it has no end.” — Philip K. Dick

It’s why writing in a quiet place is necessary. It allows you to listen to yourself. I get frustrated when I’m writing, and people around me are talking because I won’t be able to listen to myself. What I do is, I go somewhere with little distractions. I’d turn off the light, make sure everywhere is quiet, then start to write.

I admire people that write fiction because of how they can create captivating stories — I hope to write a best-selling fiction someday.

Final Note

Whatever you create starts from your head. Get familiar with the voice in your head, and it would do more for you than you can imagine.

All you have to do is listen.

Thank you for reading