“To choose to write is to reject silence.” -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I have always used the metaphor of dragons and monsters to describe the enemy of creativity and productivity. But I think dragons and monsters are a bit scary and people might not quickly relate to it because they often don’t see dragons and monsters except on the screen. But there’s something that people can relate with which I believe its metaphor fits the description of creativity’s enemy and I call it SILENCE.
We have heard the word more often than not. Because “keep silent or shut up” isn’t far from us. We’ve been hearing it since our childhood and we’re used to it. Silence is the enemy of creativity and productivity.
Silence comes in different forms—it sometimes shows as an authority, as loved ones, and as one’s society. These are the things that mostly dictate or decide how we should live our life. Most times, they lead us to nothing. Even though sometimes, they have good intentions for us but their intentions never create change.
Silence is a shackle, it stifles one’s freedom to express one’s thought or explore one’s creativity. And in order to break this shackle, one must write, create, explore, and imagine. One must struggle against all odds in order to make things happen.
Yes, silence has its good side and I mean a lot of good when it’s necessary but the bad side is so dominant that it has led many of us to become the play-it-safers and fit-ins who follow the norm.
Those who follow the norm never do things that matter. They’re cowered in the proverbial what-if.
What do we do to overcome this enemy? Break it. Remember I told you it’s a shackle and for one to be free, one needs to break the shackle that’s holding one’s back from exploring one’s creativity. Go break your silence. Go make a ruckus. And go make a difference. The world needs you. Go!
-MOAB © 2015
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