Stifling Negativity

Silencing that inner voice: an exploration of the stifling grip of self-doubt on creativity

Art by Inge

In the quiet corners of her mind,  
a cacophony swells,  
a tempest of whispers,  
doubt draped in shadows,  
dark clouds weaving through her thoughts.  

They speak in riddles,  
taunting her visions,  
her dreams’ colors fading to gray.  

She sits,  
fingers poised above keys,  
waiting for her soul’s symphony to emerge,  
but voices wail,  
a relentless tide,  
drowning her melodies 
in a sea of judgment.  

To silence them,  
she breathes,  
a deep inhale,  
filling her lungs with possibility’s fragrance,  
exhaling expectation’s weight,  
letting air carry away her fragments of fear.  

She paints her silence in strokes of gold,  
each mark a declaration,  
each hue a rebellion against gray,  
as her dropcloth absorbs her turmoil,  
transforming it into a flag of resilience.  

Nature becomes her refuge—
rustling of leaves, 
stately, steadfast trees, 
gentle murmurs of wind—
whispering secrets of strength,  
reminding her that after rainstorms,  
her world bursts into bloom.  

With every step into sunshine,  
she gathers courage,  
replacing noise with her heartbeat’s rhythm,  
a pulse of creation echoing through her veins.  

Voices may linger,  
but she learns to dance around them,  
to transform their clamor into a choir of her own,  
a symphony of self-acceptance,  
a song that celebrates her very being.  

And in that harmony,  
she finds her truth,  
not in silence,  
but in her own spirit’s powerful roar,  
unfurling like petals at dawn,  
embracing chaos,  
making it a part of her art,  
a brushstroke on the canvas of her life.

Author’s Note

• My award-winning book of poetry and prose, The Edges, is available in digital and paperback formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Play, and Kobo.

Upcoming…

• A short story about loss, love, and loyalty:

  Bear and Bella, 1 February 2025

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