Are you a 2am idea person?

I have a theory: night owls create from the void.

Some people collect, research, synthesize, construct, pull together different sources, and create something beautifully eclectic and original.

They are able to consciously illuminate connections and meticulously join each detail into a coherent whole.

And then… there are those of us who create from the void.

The absorption of external information and sources happens subconsciously, gestates for [undetermined period of time], and eventually resurfaces - often fully formed.

(This isn’t about appropriating or not citing sources. Everything has context, and nothing truly comes from “nowhere.” This is about how I take in, process, and create from those sources.)

To create, I need time and space to myself. Darkness. Silence. Solitude. These are the ideal conditions that allow ideas to bubble up from my subconscious mind unhindered.

Enter the 2am idea. (Or insert whichever liminal hour speaks to you.)

A 2am idea isn’t always amazing, but it’s always WEIRD and never something my daytime, conscious brain could put together or admit to itself.

2am is when my conscious mind is quiet enough that true desire and inspiration can arise.

So, there is the practice of “showing up every day and doing the work.” This is what I have diligently tried to do my entire creative life.

But my best work? It just shows up, like it always existed.

(That doesn’t mean it’s easy, and I certainly don’t always like it.)

I’m not sure wtf this means yet. But I’m learning to trust my void process, and ride the creative wave when it hits. Even at 2am.

I’m reframing “showing up every day” to be less about forcing productivity for the sake of itself - and more about having the time already set aside when something does come through.

Some designers and creatives are really resourceful, thrive with surprises and limitations, and love a collaborative client who tells them exactly what to do.

I am not. I do not. I need the freedom of the void, and boundaries around it.

I didn’t understand this about myself for a long time - so I’m hoping that at least one other void-person will see themselves in this.

Let that 2am idea come through.