I’ve been thinking lately about how my brain is wired differently. I have an ear for the written word – specifically for prose. When I’m reading a novel or a short story, I hear a natural flow of words, and I instinctively know what should come next and how it should sound.

That’s not to say all books should sound the same, but once I’ve picked up on the melody of that particular writer, the words and the way they’re put together become evident to me. My inner ear clangs and my mind trips when the wrong words appear—words that don’t work, that don’t belong.

Other people have an ear for poetry. The words sing to them, the cadence flows and swells and dies, and if the poet has done her job, the words fill the reader’s soul and answer unasked questions.

With my brain, not so much. I don’t hear poetry. There isn’t a rhythm that sings to me when I read a poem. Where others hear a refrain that pulls their heartstrings in the intended direction, I become bored with the repetition. Not only that, I become lost very easily in a poem, to the point where I have to stop and go back several times to remember what came before. Okay, I’m confessing my poetic ignorance. So, sue me.

Still, other people don’t enjoy reading, but music speaks to their souls. Where I’ll have an audiobook with me in the car or on my walks, they’ll listen to 9 hours of music nonstop and love every minute of it. Now, unlike poetry, I enjoy many types of music and a wide range of performers. But I don’t hear the music in the same way I hear the written word.

While music sings to my soul, it sings differently than the written word. Even though songs are made up of words, I could never write beautiful lyrics the way Elton John, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Tracy Chapman, and so many others do. I’m jealous of their ability to combine incredible lyrics with music. But, unfortunately, my creative mind doesn’t work that way, and my guess is, their mind isn’t wired to write novels.

We all have our gifts, our talents, our strengths. All creatives are wired to hear in their own way. Embrace the way that you hear words, whether through prose, poetry, music, art, or even photography; you have a gift. Embrace it.