Listen to the Silence: Daydreaming as a Creative Superpower

I was that kid in school. Drawing comics in the margins. Imagining other worlds. Creating whole stories in my head while the teacher was explaining something important about ancient civilizations or why photosynthesis was the backbone of life. And somehow, I was still listening. Still absorbing. Well, unless it was math. That just never made it in. At all. Ever.

When I heard Lionel Richie on Joe Rogan talk about finding his tribe at Motown, something clicked. That moment when you realize there are other people like you. People who don’t just tolerate daydreaming, they live in it. Build careers on it.

He said Motown was full of people tapping on tables, humming to themselves, scatting at the mic, inventing in real time. It was pure creativity with no doors, no windows, no walls. And when he found that place, he was finally let out of the box. He stopped trying to justify the way he thought. He just was. That hit me hard.

(You can watch that conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiDNZJgnRRQ or on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CHInBRsNWkFvdz9InOV6n?si=b6338c8b95d6456d)

Now just to be clear, my old agency wasn’t Motown. Not even close. But when I found that team, I did feel like I’d found my version of a creative tribe. We weren’t making timeless records, but we were building fun, weird, brilliant things with a bunch of people who thought differently. And that part felt familiar.

Once we built a bit of momentum, other daydreamers started showing up. Some applied for jobs, others just kind of wandered in and didn’t leave. Not everyone got it. Not everyone saw the magic. But for the ones who did? It was special.

We had a lot of daydreamers.

The kind of people who could build entire campaigns in their heads before touching a sketchpad. People who needed to go for a walk, stare at a wall, or spin in their chair for an hour to crack a pitch. And that was okay. We didn’t care how you got there. We cared that you got there.

Turning Daydreaming Into a Tool

Over the years, I’ve learned how to channel it. That open-focus state. That creative hum. It’s not zoning out. It’s zoning into the space where ideas form. Where patterns emerge.

I do it by staring at a window. A corner of the office. Something just out of reach visually so my eyes blur out and my brain kicks in. I turn everything else down. And I can spatially visualize what needs to be done.

Some people need whiteboards or checklists. I need a minute to drift.

And yeah, it sounds fluffy. Maybe even a little lazy. But it works. It's how I solve problems, plan strategies, and see solutions that aren’t obvious yet.

Why We Need to Stop Shaming the Stare

So many kids get told to snap out of it. Pay attention. Stop daydreaming.

We need to stop that. Immediately.

Daydreaming isn’t the opposite of productivity. It’s the seed of it. It’s how creative problem-solvers, innovators, writers, and leaders see what doesn’t exist yet. It’s mental white space. And without it, we just repeat the same noisy ideas over and over again.

Lionel said it best. Creativity comes from the silence. From the gaps. From the space between.

The world doesn't need fewer daydreamers. It needs more people who remember how to listen to the quiet long enough to receive what's waiting there.

TL;DR (Too Long, Did Dream)

• Daydreaming isn’t lazy, it’s a creative tool

• Lionel Richie found his creative home by embracing his own wiring

• I found mine by building a team that valued deep thinkers, visualizers, and off-beat energy

• If you drift to solve problems, you’re not broken. You’re probably just built to imagine

Give yourself permission to stare out the window. That’s where some of the best ideas are hiding.

FURTHER READING, SOURCES & DEEP DIVES:

Neuroscience & Creativity Research:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04128-8

Nature - World's most prestigious scientific journal proving causal link between default mode network and creative thinking.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3791743/

NIH PubMed Central - Federal research repository on functional connectivity between creativity and default network.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251013095732.htm

Science Daily - Science news aggregator covering peer-reviewed research on ADHD and extraordinary creativity.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/how-people-with-adhd-can-harness-mind-wandering-and-daydreaming

Discover Magazine - Established science publication (since 1980) covering neuroscience of ADHD mind wandering.

https://neurosciencenews.com/adhd-creativity-27756/

Neuroscience News - Independent science news source covering latest neuroscience research on ADHD and creativity.

https://www.newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/adhd-creativity-mind-wandering/

New Atlas - Science and technology publication covering breakthrough research on ADHD brains and creativity.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886922003408

Elsevier ScienceDirect - Personality and Individual Differences - Peer-reviewed psychology journal on daydreaming's role in creativity.

Business Innovation:

https://www.hbr.org/2015/09/to-get-more-done-let-your-mind-wander

Harvard Business Review - Premier management magazine from Harvard Business School on mind wandering for productivity.

https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/29/health/daydream-believer-mind-wandering/index.html

CNN Health - Major news network's health division covering neuroscience of creative daydreaming.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2023/09/20/how-mind-wandering-can-improve-your-thinking-and-well-being/

Forbes - Leading business publication on cognitive benefits of mind wandering backed by research.