Understanding how to reframe the noise of thought as colors on an artist’s palette is essential for shifting from being ruled by thoughts to using them as tools for creation.
Thoughts are not you. They are not emotions. They are not truth.
They are ideas—conditioned love—that want to actualize.
And ideas are the prerequisite for all existence. Nothing happens without an idea first existing. Every event, every moment, every action begins with an idea waiting to be chosen.
Since attention is stolen, the idea that hijacked attention first becomes the dominant one—the color on the brush. And whatever color is currently on the brush will do whatever it takes to stay there.
Step 1: Recognizing That Noise is Just Color
When a thought dominates your mind, it is not because it is the most important thought—it is simply the color that was hijacked into use.
• Red is on the brush because it hijacked attention first.
• Blue is on the brush because it hijacked attention first.
• Yellow is on the brush because it hijacked attention first.
There is no deeper meaning in the fact that a thought is present. It is not a message from the universe. It is not an insight into your true self.
It is simply what is currently on the brush.
Step 2: Seeing Thought as Conditioned Love
Ideas do not want to be ignored. They only exist to actualize. That is their entire function.
• They are not neutral.
• They are not passive.
• They are persistent because they have only one goal—to make it onto the canvas.
If an idea could have its way, your entire painting would be one single color.
• If red is on the brush, red wants the entire painting to be red.
• If blue is on the brush, blue wants the entire painting to be blue.
• If yellow is on the brush, yellow wants the entire painting to be yellow.
Each color knows the other colors exist, but it is obligated to be itself.
• Red knows about blue.
• Blue knows about red.
• Yellow knows about green.
Yet red must remain red. It cannot become blue without ceasing to be itself. It is not interested in blending, harmonizing, or considering whether a different color is better suited for the moment. That is not its role.
A clock hand at 3:30 p.m. is 3:30 p.m. It is never 4:00, it is never 2:45—it is precisely and specifically what it is.
• Fairness is aware of hierarchy, but fairness is still fairness.
• Hierarchy is aware of fairness, but hierarchy is still hierarchy.
• Red knows blue exists, but red is never blue.
Every color is biased—because it must be.
It only knows how to be itself because that is its function.
Step 3: Understanding That the Current Color Will Argue to Stay
Whatever color is on the brush, it will resist being washed away.
This is why thoughts feel like singular conversations inside your head.
It is not that multiple thoughts are screaming “Pick me! Pick me!”—it is that the current color is speaking.
And the current color will say whatever it takes to remain on the brush.
• If red is on the brush, red will argue for itself.
• If blue is on the brush, blue will argue for itself.
• If yellow is on the brush, yellow will argue for itself.
This argument can take many forms:
• Red might say, “This is the best choice for you. Don’t switch.”
• Red might say, “If you change now, you’ll ruin everything.”
• Red might say, “You have to stick with this; it’s who you are.”
But the truth is, red is not you.
Red is just red.
And it is only talking because it is on the brush.
Step 4: Noticing the Strategy of the Current Color
Since every idea only knows how to be itself, it does not care how it stays—it only cares that it stays.
This means that the same color can produce completely different thoughts, depending on what works best to keep it in use.
• Red might make you feel confident, bold, and powerful—so that you don’t switch.
• Or red might make you feel anxious, hesitant, and fearful—so that you don’t switch.
• Or red might make you feel like everything is flowing perfectly—so that you don’t switch.
The color will say whatever needs to be said to avoid going into the water.
This is why thoughts can be both positive and negative but still feel equally inescapable. The goal is the same: persistence.
Step 5: Washing the Brush and Choosing Another Color
Since attention is stolen, you do not get to choose what hijacks the brush.
But you can choose what happens next.
• You can wash the brush.
• You can pick another color.
• You can switch, blend, experiment, and create.
But here’s the key: the color currently on the brush will always resist this change.
• It will tell you to keep painting with it.
• It will tell you that switching is a mistake.
• It will tell you that this is the only way forward.
But once you recognize Ah, this is just red talking because red is on the brush, you gain distance.
And then, through action, you put the brush in the water and pick something else.
Step 6: Painting With Intentionality
Once you understand that thoughts are just colors, you are free to create.
• You do not need to listen to the current color’s argument.
• You do not need to justify why you are switching.
• You do not need to fear what happens next.
You are not at the mercy of ideas.
You are the artist.
You use ideas.
You select colors.
You choose what actualizes.
And if a color has dominated the brush for too long, you simply recognize it, wash it away, and pick something new.
Because the brush is in your hand.
And you get to decide what the final painting becomes.