Calm enough to create

Staying focused on your creative purpose and work in a noisy world

Feb 03, 2025

Hey beautiful people! I hope you’re well wherever you are. I am not (but I will be).

I had a content schedule — a post about unlocking the power of affirmations (it’s still forthcoming) — but everything feels like it’s drastically shifted since my birthday, which fell on Martin Luther King Jr Day and the U.S. Presidential Inauguration this year.

Over the last two weeks, my joyous birthday weekend filled with celebration and snowfall descended into…

constant “breaking news” alerts and flurries of executive orders stealing my attention;
threats of downsizing at my job robbing my focus;
mandates and memos without guidance stirring uncertainty, speculation, and overwhelm;
the legacy of hard-won civil rights and social justice efforts under attack;
social media drowning out the noise of my inner worry while also drowning me in the bickering noise of public opinion before I can form a single independent thought; and
the dreadful feeling that everything feels important while nothing seems to matter at all anymore.

On my birthday, I boldly recited the affirmation I wrote:

“This year, I am courageously executing my creative ideas.”

But a week later, I was on my couch feeling too numb and outraged to think or create at all. I vacillated between reading news articles and finding solace in conversations with trusted friends and family with whom I can express myself honestly. I was trying to make sense of this new, ever-changing sociopolitical climate we’re in. But I was not “courageously executing my creative ideas,” which pained me. Then this thought hit me…

You gotta be calm enough to create

Ideas cannot flourish in a cluttered mind. When emotional overwhelm builds up because of the noisy world outside of us (e.g., news, work deadlines, social obligations, etc.) and within us (e.g., our own thoughts, worries, fears), it creates a lot of mental clutter.

Mental clutter is like being buried in a laundry pile of emotions.
Every troubling piece of news adds to the pile. It feels never-ending.

My mental clutter feels like a kaleidoscope of thoughts and feelings crashing and colliding in my mind so I cannot find precise or thoughtful words to express myself. Or, I am mentally exhausted from being overly cautious with every word I say in work meetings and chats, fearful it may cost me my job.

Either way, a cluttered mind cannot create because there’s no space for it to relax, wander freely, ponder and make connections without disruption, or experience deep introspection – all of which foster creativity and enable self-expression.

This is why it’s essential to step away, reset, and calm (or C.A.L.M.) our minds. That’s right! I came up with an acronym for how to calm the mind (or at least my approach to it). When you’re C.A.L.M., you…

C - Clear the distractions.
A - Are aware of what your body feels and needs.
L - Look at situations logically and lovingly.
M - Mindfully observe “what is” and what is needed to move forward.

Check out the infographic I created for a detailed explanation:

Silence and stillness can calm our minds

I’ve found that silence and stillness are pathways to calming the mind. First, silence and stillness are a practice. They are like showering or brushing your teeth but for your mind. Practicing them routinely can promote good mental health and wellness. I’ve found that silence and stillness can do four things:

Create an environment where we quiet down everything that is constantly clamoring for our attention.
Shift our attention to our breathing and listening to our body. So, we become more aware of what our body feels and needs, and can respond to those needs. This can make us feel more safe and in control, and calm us down.
Provide an atmosphere where we can finally hear and evaluate our thoughts, creating an opportunity to look at situations logically and lovingly. We can test our thoughts by asking ourselves: Why do I think this is true? What evidence do I have that it’s not? What is another way of looking at this?
Invite us to step out of our feelings and observe the facts of a situation (what actually happened) instead of our perceptions and assumptions (what we think happened and why). This helps us to be mindful.

So, how do we practice silence and stillness so that we’re calm enough to create in a constantly noisy world?

Ways I calm my mind to boost creativity

There’s three main methods I use. The first two methods are how I routinely practice silence and stillness. The third one is my most natural form of expression when my emotions run high; and ironically, fuels my creativity even when I am too emotionally overwhelmed to create.

#1 - Get outside

Whether it’s stepping outside to feel the sun on my face, taking a walk, or heading to a local park to be in nature, being outdoors always draws me out of my anxious mind and into a physical yet divine space where I pray, meditate, and connect with God, and I am reminded that I am a part of a much larger world. The problems may still be there, but how I view them changes.

There’s also scientific evidence that nature boost your overall health — watch Dr. Qing Li explain the health benefits of forest bathing.

#2 - Breathe and stretch

The quickest way I get out of my head is by getting into my body. Here’s how:

I roll out my yoga mat and do stretches or a yoga flow with whatever time I have available (even if it’s 5 mins); or
I lay back on the mat and breathe.

This practice helps me to: (1) clear distractions; and (2) become aware of how stress may be showing up in my body, such as headaches, muscle tightness, or chest pains. I can soothe those things, making myself feel more safe and calm.

#3 - Vent in a journal

When my emotions are boiling over and spilling out, I reach for my notebook or voice recorder and dump my emotions there. It’s like venting to a friend but that friend is my notebook and it’s always available. It can look like:

stream of conscious writing (or “freewriting”) where I write whatever comes to mind without stopping to think or edit;
drawing or sketching aimlessly; or
when the thoughts are surging faster than I can write, I sound off (even singing) in a voice recorder.

In my notebook, the emotions are now outside of me and easier to observe and process, which helps me look at situations logically and lovingly. To my surprise and delight, poems, prose, or song lyrics — worth revisiting — end up spilling out of me.

All of these methods create an atmosphere of inner silence and stillness where I can transform my cluttered mind into a calm one, which eventually leads to a creative mind.

Long deep breath. I invite you to get calm enough to create. Because the world now more than ever needs you shine brightly (i.e., use your talents to positively impact the world).

So, go get C.A.L.M and tell me how it goes.