Why you need to shut out the noise

A book review along with steps to shutting out the noise, tapping into your inner knowing, and becoming your most authentic self. 

Life in 2024 is loud. If you are a sensitive soul like myself, you may be falling victim to this noise drowning out your own thoughts and your own, unique super-powers.

For the past year or so I kept feeling inclined to get quiet. Everything felt like too much. I’d spend a few months engulfed in the technology and the pace of society in this day and age. Then I’d need to take a step back, even isolate from “life” as I know it. But the thing is I wasn’t stepping back from life, I was actually stepping into it. I was stepping away from this weird, twisted, conformed, fake life as we know the 2024 state of the world to be, and stepping into real life; into living, for what felt like the first time ever.

A big part of what I’m referring to here is social media. It isn’t the entirety of what’s wrong with the modern world, but for sensitive souls, it is a large perpetrator that is holding you back from actually living. I took my first 30-day break from social media about a year ago when I had returned from my time in Europe (where life is as real as it gets). During this time, as expected, I discovered new hobbies and interests, read a lot of books, had time to be more present in my relationships (and honestly be the best friend I had ever been), showed up as an extremely dedicated student in my last year of college, and most surprisingly, tapped into a new level of creativity I had never encountered, nor did I know existed, within me. I had revelations about myself, my life, where I was headed, and overall felt more clear about myself. What is more important in life than fully discovering this self? Are you really comfortable knowing that there are millions of sides of yourself that you may never get to know if you continue living through online, in a fake world, where you’re distracted and can never reach full self-actualization?

It sounds dramatic, I know, but rightfully so..because it is serious. This is your life we’re talking about and you only get one of those. Do you really want to waste it? I know I don’t.

I had planned to only do 30 days off socials when I took my first break one year ago. After feeling its effects though, I wanted to stay off for longer. I stayed off for a few months, then went back on. After two months of being back on, I felt it blocking my inner voice again, so I stepped away. This time I took a break for the whole summer – April to September. I not only tapped into my inner-knowing, I developed a relationship with my significant other at the time and developed deeper friendships. When I went back on socials, to no surprise, I quickly began feeling blocked again and felt my inner voice fade.

Maybe there are some people out there who are not as heavily impacted by social media. But if you are sensitive to the things you consume, you may not even know how much it is impacting you.

All of this, to say, that before I had ever taken a step back from social media, I had some inkling that this was causing a block and there were parts of myself I don’t know because of it. Then I read the book The Artist’s Way…and everything I thought was happening was confirmed by the author and professor of creativity, Julia Cameron. I can do a whole separate book review on The Artist’s Way if you all are interested, but in relation to this blog post, this book was the catalyst to finding my authentic, creative self.

Cameron argues that everyone is born creative. Then throughout your time on earth, you come into contact with people, things, and experiences that end up causing creative blocks. For example, maybe when you were younger you made short-films in your bedroom. Then someone told you it was stupid and that you should be a doctor. The wall went up when you were just eight years old, you went about your life pursuing a career as a doctor, completely forgetting the fact that your true self wanted to make films. This oversimplified version of how creative blocks form is all too common, and the reason why turning off the noise allows you tap into your own inner knowing. Turn off the nay-sayers for long enough, or even imaginary nay-sayers in your head, and your creativity will come flowing. Say this person’s name is Tom. Now Tom has done eight years of medical school, many internships, but he never feels satisfied. His heart is longing for something else, but he is completely unaware of what. Because of burn-out, Tom is forced to get quiet – He falls sick so he spends time taking walks, time-off work, and cooking hearty meals. All of a sudden, he remembers “I like making films.”

This is a simple example that I've made up for metaphoric purposes, but I’m sure you can relate on some level. This is the magic of turning off the noise. I have experienced this magic in my own life a multitude of times. Every time I turn off the noise…the searching ends. There is no more need to look outside of yourself because the answer comes to you. Your creativity will come out because you were born to create. All of a sudden ideas will be flowing and you won't know where they came from. Well, they were always inside you but some chatter was blocking your recognition of them -- Whether this is old sayings you heard when you were young, like in Tom's case, or the constant chatter of people you see online everyday -- If you're constantly consuming and

listing to the chatter, you'll miss the messages born inside you.

You owe it to yourself to listen to your own voice.

If you want to tap into the most authentic version of yourself and stop drowning out your own inner knowing, then it is time to turn off the noise. Do whatever it is this means for you. This could mean deleting social media, distancing yourself from someone who doesn’t believe in you, ending over-consumption (T.V., food, alcohol, media, even books!), or simply taking a break from what feels wrong and engaging in activities like meditating, cooking, or things you enjoyed as a child.

I hope you all loved this blog post and that it is helpful to you in your level-up journey. I'm here for you along the way as you become your best self! I’d love to hear your thoughts and hear about your own journey of self-discovery. Please leave a review, comment, and don't hesitate to reach out.

Ciao!

Link to "The Artist's Way"