Are you a noise maker or a signal generator?

Have you ever caught yourself recycling the same few ideas?

I’m not talking about when you’re simply refining an old idea, adding to it, or ensuring you implement it.

I’m talking about those times when you’re genuinely trying to create something new (a fresh perspective, a new song, a short story, whatever your medium), but the result lacks any spark. It feels bland. Boring. Stuffy. Just noise.

As a creator (or really, as any human trying to think an original thought), that feeling is a real pebble in our shoe.

I’ve found myself in that frustrating situation many times. Invariably, I end up having to take a break to reflect and replenish my creative batteries.

I believe this creative dry spell often stems from a lifestyle misalignment. I’ve been chewing on this, and two simple analogies connect to describe exactly why it’s so hard to get to the depth that matters.

Analogy 1: The Signal is Buried

Think of the internet, social media, the 24/7 news cycle, and life in general not as a library, but as a vast, unruly junkyard.

This junkyard holds an absolute flood of noise: engagement bait, clickbait, rage bait, quips, surface-level takes, trends, hot takes, and content designed to be consumed and destined to be instantly forgotten. We’re so accustomed to this constant stimuli that it becomes a comfort (a convenient, low-effort fill for the empty space between moments). It’s the equivalent of having the TV on just for background hum; it fills the void.

With such low-quality creative fodder, is it any wonder that what we create is often uninspiring? We can easily just regurgitate the same platitudes, and thus add to the noise.

But what’s underneath all that easy, plentiful noise? The signal.

The signal is the deep, underlying truth. It’s the unique insight, the not-so-obvious pattern, the meaningful novel idea.

The noise is easy to access, but the signal requires digging. As creators, this is where true joy is: in uncovering a nugget of gold, however small.

Analogy 2: The Law of Inertia is Our Enemy

If the signal is buried, the next question is: Why don’t we just stop, grab a shovel, and dig?

Because of inertia!

We are bodies in motion (or rather, minds in motion). We’re busy constantly consuming, scrolling, and being stimulated. The law of inertia states that a body in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an external force. In other words, it’s easy to carry on as we were, and difficult to stop.

It takes a conscious, uncomfortable, weird-feeling effort to stop the scroll, put the phone down, and just be alone with our thoughts. You will feel that friction. But that quiet stillness that results? That’s the only moment the mind’s engine can switch from coasting on easy stimuli to going into creative mode. We have to get comfortable with that friction. Let me call it the Friction before Reflection.

This friction is the gatekeeper to the signal. You cannot access deep, creative truth without first fighting the habit of shallow consumption and truly reflecting.

And if you don’t do this regularly, if you always let the noise-inertia win, the creative juices will run dry, and you will have no choice but to recycle old thoughts.

The Takeaway

The effort we avoid is exactly the effort we need.

The Friction before Reflection (that initial, uncomfortable choice to stop consuming so you can access your own internal signal) is the only way to break the cycle. It’s the key to becoming a signal generator, not just another noise polluter.

Turn the key in the ignition, and you get reflection. And out of reflection will spring new connections, new perspectives, new life: in short, real creativity.

So, go on a noise detox regularly. Whatever form that takes for you (social media detox, YouTube detox, TV detox, etc.), stop consuming for a while. Stop the merry-go-round of constant stimuli.

That’s the starting point.

Allow your brain to come alive, and make new connections again.

Reflect, Redefine, Rise.

R.

PS: I said this is the starting point. Where else could we go from there if we’re still stuck? I’ll share my perspective in the next post.