"SILENCE"

Is almost like a place where you can go so you can find back yourself. You can start to listen through the noise of your thoughts and start to look inward. Sometimes our thoughts aren't even our own. They can come from others, even though we don't like to admit it. So do we even have an original voice, and how can we find it?

When we're going through our daily lives, we pick up hundreds of things that other people are saying. We all think that we're so original, but in reality, we're not. We often mix all kinds of ideas from other people and turn them into something new. And it's the new combination of all those ideas and concepts that make it unique.

For instance, while writing this I'm thinking in the back of my head about the book: "Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon which I read for a second time recently. The title of the book speaks for itself. Other artists in history like Picasso for example had this same philosophy. So this is not my original idea. I'm "stealing" this actually right now, and mixing the ideas of the book a bit with other writers I've been checking out recently like Eckhart Tolle and Robert Greene. And now something new like this blog post will come out. My ego doesn't like to admit it, but it's the truth.

Most people don't like to admit this, because it almost feels "dirty". So it has created a bit of a misconception that creativity is this mysterious thing that some people just seem to be born with and is ungraspable. I'm more of a believer in work instead of talent.

But it's also worrisome. Do we even have an original voice then? And how can we find it?

I think it's in the silence. Because when you're silent for long enough, without any distractions, no book, no phone, no TV, and completely alone, eventually ideas will start to pop up by itself. They flow out of your unconscious mind, and that part of creativity IS something mysterious.

So I guess I’ll stop writing now and let the silence speak for itself.