Our creative senses are always teaching us how to listen — not just with the ear or eye, but with the whole body.
Sometimes we can learn a great deal about a flat moment in life by checking for what sensory information is missing.

The study of Neuro-Linguistic Programming was an important turning point in both my writing and my life. I won’t go crazy here, but I want to share one simple observation about the nature of creativity itself — not only on the page, but in the way we move through the world.

NLP teaches that we each create a “map of the world” based on our experiences and our understanding of life. This map is drawn entirely from the information coming to us through our five senses. The early NLP pioneers observed that most of us have a preferred sensory system. Some of us think in pictures, others in words, and others through feelings or tactile impressions. These systems are known as Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic.

There is a fascinating body of observation within NLP that includes reading eye movements or listening to verbal cues to determine which system is in use. Visual thinkers move their eyes up and to their left when they are “seeing.” Auditory thinkers drop their eyes down and to the left. Kinesthetic thinkers move their eyes down and to the right. Without oversimplifying, we can say that thinking is a rapid sequencing of these sensory details, both inside and outside of our heads. When we get stuck in one system, our thinking — and often our living — becomes limited.

The richness of our sensory awareness deeply affects every part of our experience. Many of us fixate on one sensory system and rarely include the finer details of the others. For instance, I become frustrated when I’m with someone who can name every street their car turns on but never seems present in their own body, breath, or fingertips.

Sometimes we can learn a great deal about a flat moment by checking for what sensory information is missing. We lay out a room: beige carpet, pale sage green walls, a perfect picture hung perfectly, a white couch, French doors with pecan trim. You begin to see the room? So far, our experience is one-dimensional — only the visual system engaged. Add the odor of bacon frying, a teenager’s stereo playing down the hall, the frigid air from too much air conditioning — and the moment begins to breathe.

Many people think that perspective simply establishes whose mind we are moving through, but distance is equally important. Like a camera lens, we can widen or close the distance between ourselves and the world by the use of sensory detail.

When I first studied NLP, I realized that I process the world in a very V–K way. I often say, “I have to see how that feels.” My trainer told me I was a Visual-Kinesthetic. What fascinated me later was that when I create, I hear things first. There are minimal images, but I often feel as if I’m taking dictation. Even the visual scenes come to me in words. My least-used modality in daily life — Auditory — drives my creative life. Odd.

I started quizzing clients about what modality was their “creating” modality. I have asked hundreds of people and found the same thing — often our least-used modality in daily life is the one that drives our deeper creative work.

We might assume a musician creates through the Auditory system, but often it’s Kinesthetic — the feel of vibration, movement, and sound in the body. We might assume a visual artist paints through the Visual system, but again, it’s often Kinesthetic — the brush in hand, the texture, the flow. Many writers write what they hear in their minds.

How do you create? Some see a path forward, some hear it, others feel it. It’s as if we use one sensory system for the daily grind and another entirely for creation and inner truth.

This may also explain why some of us love the flow of pen on paper — a kinesthetic link to the creative source. I’ve trained myself to work on a computer, but it lacks something, a tactile lift I get from a fine pen and a clean sheet of paper. Yum.

Our creative senses are always teaching us how to listen — not just with the ear or eye, but with the whole body.

Every creative act begins with perception. Becoming aware of how you take in the world opens pathways to richer expression and a more dimensional way of being.

Reflection Exercise:
Pause for a few moments and think about your creative process — not only in art, but in problem-solving, conversation, or dreaming up your next step. Do you see images first? Hear words or melodies? Feel sensations or movement?

Write a short paragraph beginning with: “When I create, I…” and explore what sensory channel leads you into flow.

Then, try engaging one of the other senses. If you’re visual, try to feel or hear the next idea that arrives. Notice how life shifts when you change the doorway of perception.