Find Your Creative Spirit Beneath The Ocean of Noise

The Gentle Rebel Podcast

There is more to music than we can ever put into words. And I think it's the same with people. Language cannot fully describe who we are. Labels, boxes, and pigeonholes fall short. Maybe we call it our creative voice. However we describe it, our "sound" is that indescribable spirit that makes us who we are. But it's fragile and can quickly get lost beneath the world's ocean of noise. Join me for a Gentle Humdinger Workshop, where we will identify and explore the inner creative voice that often gets drowned out by the noise of everyday life. Sometimes life feels like trying to play a fragile folk song in a rowdy club on New Year's Eve. At other times, however, we attempt forcing the instrument to do something it's not designed for. So we end up bending ourselves out of shape and burning out. The Impact of Noise I've always been fascinated by the impact of sound design on mood and meaning in TV and film. Of course, if you've ever watched a horror film with the sound off, you'll know what I mean. Because it doesn't pack quite the same punch without the noises. Hearing The Same Thing in Different Ways We are influenced by the soundtrack playing within us. We all think we see things objectively, but in reality, two people can look at the situation differently. It doesn't always mean one person is wrong. On the contrary, things are always more complicated than they appear. We hear the other person, but we also hear it alongside a whole load of internal noise. Anticipation and Evidence On the whole, we see what we anticipate. When we are in a sitcom, we are ready to laugh. In a horror movie, we are primed to jump. When in an action film, we are prepared to run or fight. How do some people seem to allow things to wash over them while others in the same situation react as if the world is about to end? Decision Making When swept up in the ocean of noise, we are more likely to make decisions that take us away from our creative spirit. Noise creates urgency, scarcity, and competition. When we're in the noise, be it a state of fear, overwhelm, hangover, stress etc. So we might make an impulsive decision..."I’m quitting, never doing anything like this again, buying a new car, or buying a wireless in-ear monitoring system" (listen to the episode for that story). Sources of Noise in Everyday Life Our natural sound, voice, and creative spirit can become lost in the world's chaos. We accept and amplify the demands, expectations, and assumptions without much thought. But where does the ocean of noise come from? What component parts leave us unable to see the wood for the trees in this way (overwhelmed, burned out, and operating in a chronic state of stress)? The Ocean of Information It comes from news media and information overload. An unending and unresolved source of instant updates from all over the world. Noise is stimulation without clarity and resolution. The news is precisely that-a flow of traumatic things we can't resolve or control. The Ocean of Toxic Positivity Toxic positivity is the lie of limitless and groundless possibility in a finite world. It's the message we can do anything, be anyone, and uncover our unlimited potential. It's a state of overwhelm in an unlimited can-do reality, where impossible is nothing, we should "Just Do It", and every no is just another step closer to success. This overwhelming disturbance gets louder, faster, and more intrusive. It's the sound of humanity waging war on itself, and it takes us away from the expansive, playful, beautiful sound within us. The sound of joy, connection, laughter, and meaning. The creativity, adventure, and curiosity. It's been replaced by the drive to produce, be helpful, and prove ourselves. The Ocean of Sensory Stimulation Highly sensitive people get rapidly drained in a world where the volume is always turned up. It's exhausting to exist without true rest.