The Noise Lied to You — Your Inner Voice Never Did

In a world that is louder than it has ever been — where artificial intelligence can clone a voice, manipulate an image, and manufacture a reality that never existed — there is one voice that cannot be faked.

Yours.

And it has been speaking to you your entire life.

The question is — have you been listening?

In this powerful solo teaching episode, Aunty Charmaine sits down with Soul Tribe for a conversation that is long overdue. Because the truth is — most of us have been outsourcing our knowing to people, systems, and voices that were never qualified to carry it. We have been scrolling for answers that live inside us. We have been asking for permission from people who are still figuring out their own lives. We have been waiting for confirmation from the outside for something our soul already confirmed a long time ago.

And the noise — every opinion, every expectation, every voice that is not yours — has been lying to you.

But your inner voice?

It never did.

In this episode Aunty Charmaine gets deeply personal — sharing the pivotal moment in her own life when she finally chose her inner knowing over the noise around her. She chose it afraid. She chose it uncertain. She chose it with no guarantee that it would work out.

And that one choice changed absolutely everything.

This community. This work. This calling. None of it exists if she had chosen the noise instead of the knowing.

She brings that testimony to Soul Tribe today — not to inspire you — but to convict you. Because you have been sitting on a knowing too. And it is time to stop letting the noise make decisions for a life it is not going to have to live.

THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF:

You have ever made a decision based on what everyone else thought — and felt something inside you go quiet

You are currently sitting on a knowing you have been afraid to act on

You have been waiting for a sign, a confirmation, or permission from someone outside yourself

You are exhausted from letting the noise lead — and you are finally ready to let your inner voice speak

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ABOUT AUNTY CHARMAINE:

Aunty Charmaine Carraway is a Spiritual Life Coach, ancestral healing guide, shamanic healer, podcaster, and the founder of Beads & Potions The Mystikal Apothecary and Soul Tribe Media. For over seven years she has been building a Soul Tribe of seekers committed to living from the inside out. Her work is rooted in ancestral wisdom, practical spirituality, and the unshakeable belief that the answer you have been looking for has always been inside you.

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Not medical advice. All content is intended for spiritual education and personal empowerment only. Consult a qualified clinician for medical concerns.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Peace and love, Soul Tribe. It's Auntie here. So we're gonna stop what we're doing right now, and I want you to think, I want you to think about a decision that did not go the way you expected. Did you know before it happened? Sit in that moment for a little while and ask yourself, was I listening to my inner voice? Or was the noise outside of me too loud? That inner voice will never lie to you, but all the opinions surrounding you, all the loud noise will. That's what we're talking about, y'all, today. Welcome to the Soul Tribe Podcast. So we're gonna name the noise. We're gonna get very specific. The noise does not always sound like noise. Sometimes it sounds like wisdom, love, or even God. Here is the difference. The noise is urgent, it's always some form of calamity, some form of emergency, but the inner voice is steady. The noise creates confusion, but the inner voice creates clarity, even when the answer is hard. The noise says, let me tell you what to think. The inner voice says you already have the answers. See, this is the time that we need to look at the noise and specifically the places in which it comes from. So let me name them. Where's the noise coming from? People who have never lived your life but have plenty of opinions about them. The fear of disappointing people who built their comfort on your compliments, social media and algorithms telling you what to do, where to go, how to feel. All of this is loud noise. Religious and spiritual systems that pointed you outward and never inward. And people who called you too much, too sensitive, too bold until you started calling yourself those very things. This is the loud. The loud noise does not mean true. The loud noise is just loud, and it helps you drown out your still inner voice. And that is what we are talking about. We're setting the tone for today because that's important. How many times have we been in environments where all we want to do is be loved, accepted, received? And never are we valued for the contribution that we can bring to the table. We're shut down, we're ignored, or completely disvalidated from anything and everything that we come to the table with. A lot of times we shuffle our personalities around where we never know who we are. And what a shame. Because everybody comes to earth with something amazing about them, something only they can do. And a lot of us never get a chance to do so because we're so caught up in living a life that is not our own. It belongs to someone else, it may belong to the spouse, it may belong to the children, it may belong to society, it may even belong to the standards that someone else has set for us, and we have never set it for ourselves. The noise, the noise can make you think that the life that you really desire, that which is within you, the noise can make you feel as though that life is wrong, that that life is not something you should reach for, especially if, in their opinion, the opinion of the noisemakers, it seems to be unattainable, can't be reached. You should not do. This is where we need to really find out who we are for real. So I tell people this all the time. What is the first rule to living on earth? The first rule to living on earth is know thyself. Know thyself, know everything about thyself. Good, bad, different, up and down, in and out, because it is knowing thyself and the lessons that come along with it. That's where the riches are. That's where the laurels are. That's where the lessons that we learn gain the victories that we've earned. So all the time that we're listening to someone else, a lot of the time, these are people who are literally trying to keep you from making what they see to be a mess of yourself. And to some degree, they may be right. Okay, we're gonna call a spade a spade. But even if that is the case, shouldn't you have at least the right to do so? If it is your life where the lessons must be learned and gained, shouldn't it be your right to learn those lessons? However, you need to learn those lessons? Because your soul is requiring that experience. So, that being said, so Auntie, what was that time in your life where you really needed to find some self-discovery, where you really needed to connect with your purpose? When you was told that's stupid, why are you doing that? Why would you do this? Why would you do that? I'm gonna give you a testimony, y'all. I was 18 years old, and I was living on my own, and in my head, oh my god, I'm living right, y'all. I'm out here. And I met my husband, and within a few weeks of meeting each other, we got engaged. And to the world, it seems like, whoa, hold up, homie, pump your brakes. That's a little fast. You feel me? And there were family members of mine, rightfully so, who felt so. But something in me was like, nah, you really need to keep pushing this forward because that's your person. And yes, did it come with some lumps and bumps? Did we have to find our way back to center as a couple? Absolutely, we did. But was my choice wrong? Absolutely not. See, the one thing I realized at a very, very young age was the importance of listening to my inner voice. So I got married at 19 years old and had my first child, bought my first house, all of this within a nine-month period. And we're now 23 years in, and we have experienced highs and lows together, and yet it was still the right choice. Sometimes I feel though, people seem to think that a right choice will not come with challenges. But I have never known a person from the cradle to the grave who didn't have challenges in the center. It's this naivety that where people try to keep you from making mistakes that them themselves could not keep from making. And to some degree, maybe they see it as a way of protecting you, but maybe it is them who need the protection from the past that they could not correct. Asking yourself whether a right choice is a right choice, should never be made based on someone else's opinions. And so, yes, I got married and had a whole family, and then I experienced it again. I experienced it again when it was time for me to build my career. And I've always been a champion for people, always, always been the person who will always stick up for the underdog, always the person who is willing to stick my neck out for people, especially when I know something is not right. And I have always known others who will turn a blind eye when they see something that's not right, not just, not fair. And so I was that person when I realized that I needed to use my voice. And when I was younger, I always envisioned myself being a writer, being a person who wrote stories and wrote articles. And I was like, man, I would love to write for a major publication. And one day I did. I wrote a lovely little piece, and it came across the path of Miss Ariana Huffington, and she sent me an email saying that she wanted me to write for the post. And I realized in that moment, oh my God, I was right. It was meant for me to tell stories, to reach the hearts of others, to break the ground of the souls of others through my words, through communications, not giving two shits what other people thought, because it's when we care about the opinions of others do we betray the voice within. And that was the beginning of me trusting my voice fully. Now, did that come with lumps and bumps? Absolutely. There are always challenges to every circumstance and situation. What I realized is when I made choices and circumstances based on other people, and they came with challenges that were not mine. Challenges that I did not see my way through. Challenges and problems that I could not see or figure out how and why. That was literally because I was fighting a battle that was not intended for me. It was somewhere around my 30s where I began to question my spirituality, my faith. That was when again connected to that inner voice, that stillness within myself. Now, I grew up in a very religious family. We came out of the Pentecostal church, and I thank God for that foundation because it was in that foundation that laid the framework for the rest of my life. But in that space in my 30s, I had just had another child. I had just graduated college. I had just experienced some serious health concerns from the child I had just had. And I realized that it was in those places and spaces of being vulnerable where I needed to then trust that inner voice again. Because they come in spurts. And then by the time you get to your 40s, you're understanding the importance of listening to that voice more than not. But in my 30s, when I began to go through my Saturn return, no one ever told me that my Saturn return would literally be a decade-long experience. They say it only lasts for a year, but I'm I'm calling bullshit on that. Okay. For me, in my experience, that was the beginnings of the experience that I had. It was almost like the paradigm of faith had to be broken down to rubble. And then I had to experience real faith, real life in the regard of connecting to who I was for real, tearing down all the things that I had learned. So I had to unlearn school, unlearn certain dynamics within the family structure, unlearn all of the things that was not mine, all of the things that kept me up at night, trying to keep up traditions that was not for me. It was only when I was in my late 30s when I began to experience something in spirituality we call the dark night of the soul. I had experienced a miscarriage, and then some months later, a car accident, and then another miscarriage after that. Your world is shattered, your business is having struggles, and you just can't seem to figure out what in the hell is going on. And then that still voice shows up again. And it's so funny because it always shows up when everybody else falls away. It's that still voice that holds you close. It almost cradles you like a mother and a child. And everybody else is gone. There is no one else's opinions because guess what? Times is hard, and guess what? They're leaving you to yourself. And that is exactly what happened. And in that moment, I realized the importance of knowing God for myself, trusting that still and inner voice, and understanding that that still and inner voice was always meant to guide me. It was literally me. It was literally the soul speaking to me clairvoyantly, pick a clear. I don't give a dag one, clairvoyant, claircognizant, pick a clear. It was there to communicate. And I knew that it was in those moments where I heard God's voice the loudest. That was the literal shifting in my thinking, where nobody's opinion mattered more than that voice within me. Now, did it frighten me? Absolutely, because we've been conditioned to listen to other people. We haven't been conditioned to listen to the still voice within, because at that point you're taking your power back. At that point, you're taking your power back, and by any means necessary, bless the brother Malcolm, that we understand the importance of in this moment, what were you called to do that only you can do, and you were called by something greater than yourself, and I need you to connect with that. That is when my writing came back in the love of it. That is when my old shows that I used to do on the VisionaryWoman.com came back because I knew I was meant to be a writer. I knew I was meant to be in the media, I knew I had to do it differently, and I knew that my faith had to play a part. So, no, I'm not here to tell you one way or the other what you should do specific. Because specifically, only you know that. But the one thing I knew was that I had to tell people the importance of connecting back to yourself. Unlearn the bullshit that came from the family dynamics, especially if those family dynamics was toxic. Let go of the guilt and shame of being the black sheep of the family and pulling yourself out of those environments. Making sure you understand that the foundation of any kind of love has to start with you and you alone and starts first with you. It can never start outside of you. Whether it is one of your children, whether it is your spouse, whether it is your career, it doesn't matter, pick one. Real love, true love always starts with self. And at the end of the day, true love always ends with self. It's something about understanding oneself and understanding the first rule to living life, know thyself. So, what was the many places where I learned the importance of know thyself? So, if anybody's ever read the works of Plato, we understand that the concept of Plato's cave. There were people chained in a cave, seeing only their shadows on a wall. The shadows were all they knew, so the shadows felt real. One person broke free and saw the sun for the first time. And when they went back to tell the others, the others did not believe him. The shadows felt safer than the truth. The noise in the cave, the inner voice is in the sun. It has been there the whole time. The question is: am I willing to walk towards the light even when the cave feels familiar? So, what are the four lies that we tell ourselves? So, lie number one. My feelings are not reliable. I hear this all the time. The reason why it feels like your feelings are not reliable is because you have not fine-tuned them. It doesn't mean that they're not reliable. And don't mistake reliable feelings just because you've made mistakes. No one from the cradle to the grave is gonna get it right 100% of the time. So that's the kind of brainwashing that we have to undo. So I was taught that emotions cloud your judgment, but my feelings are sacred data. I just had to learn how to read the data. So often we realize that a lot of times when people shut our emotions down, shut our feelings down, and they're not willing to see what can be on the other side of those feelings is because they're not emotionally steady or grounded or secure either. How do you allow yourself to connect with these emotions that were built in you as a GPS system for your soul? So one of the things that I clearly know well is when I'm in an environment that feels uncomfortable, I don't give a damn how long that discomfort is there, I'm not staying. Because that's my inner compass saying, yeah, this is not for us. Yeah, we we we don't belong here. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, my dear. When I'm in the presence of someone who makes me feel uncomfortable, I may not be able to always put my finger on it, but my soul knows it's not right for me. Understand and overstand anything that may be right for someone else may not be right for you, and it is okay to walk away because it's not right for you. What person actually can take the same medicine and the body reacts exactly the same time after time after time? There are some things that are fundamentally not for you. It may be okay for someone else, but because you're living this life and this is your experience, and perception is reality, even if it looks like it's working for someone else, it's still Not for you. So those were one of the first set of lies that I told myself that I had to unlearn. So, Auntie, what's the second lie that you told yourself that other people know better than I do? Oh my God, I went through that so deeply when I was writing at the Huffington Post and I was a UN ambassador to UN women. And I always felt like I needed more credentials. So I went to school and I got more credentials. And then even with those credentials, it wasn't enough to build my confidence up because I was working with such amazing people. And it was in those moments that I realized nobody has lived inside of my body, experienced my history, experienced my soul. I am the only qualified authority on my own life. And so are you. When do we live a life when we say to ourselves, okay, listen, nobody can do my life better than I can do my life? And even if it comes with some hurts, some pains, some challenges, some ups and downs, I'm willing to have the full experience because this is my experience to have. And even if it doesn't look right, it may be what's right for me. And even if it doesn't turn out right, what are the lessons that I'm supposed to gain from these experiences? What are the victories that I am supposed to have on the other side of these lessons? And how will I ever get there if I'm constantly listening to someone else outside of myself? This is where the wisdom comes from, y'all. So the third lie that I told myself was trusting myself is arrogance. We come up in a culture, especially within a religious culture, we come up in a culture where we are taught that self-confidence and trusting oneself is a sign of arrogance because only God knows what's best. Well, what if God is in me and I am in God and I'm getting the direct connect? What if that is the case? I was taught that humility meant deferring to others. I was taught that, but abandoning my inner wisdom is not humility, it is self-betrayal. I had to teach that to myself, that abandoning my inner wisdom is not humility, it is self-betrayal. Have you ever had a problem, a circumstance, a situation, and you went to somebody for advice? And when you took their advice and did it exactly how they said it didn't turn out right, but you felt even worse than the problem itself because you listened to somebody else and it did not work. And that is the clear indicator for me when I noticed I needed to listen closer to that still and inner voice. There will be times when I tell you no lie that prime creator brought people on my path to give me a word. And that was the word I needed because in that moment my inner voice was cloudy, it wasn't certain, it was stifled, it was stuffed down, and I couldn't hear her speaking properly. So then God brought clarity on my path, but we confuse those moments with everyday functions. What should I do? Oh, I go to the internet to find out what to do. What should I wear? Oh, I pay attention to the latest trends, and then I choose what I should be wearing. It's almost like we are now inundated with the opinions of computers, the opinions of social media, the opinions of family members, the opinions, the opinions, the opinions. They are loud, they are obnoxious, and they drown out that inner voice. So, what was the last and final lie that I told myself? If I was right, I would not feel afraid. We all got to know that's bullshit. Because fear is always gonna come when it's unfamiliar. So you can be doing the exact right thing and be terrified. You show me a person who comes to a situation and a circumstance that they are completely unfamiliar with and they come with a level of confidence, not having the knowledge of how to maneuver. A lot of times we confuse fear with whether or not it is the right thing to do or not. And what I have learned throughout my 40 some years of being on planet Earth, sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest thing to do. I used to think that clarity should feel comfortable. I used to feel that way, but then I realized: no, no, you're just unfamiliar with this kind of environment, this kind of situation, this kind of circumstance, and my dear, you're going to have to experience these challenges because you've got to outgrow these changes. But fear is not proof that I'm wrong. Sometimes it is proof that I'm finally moving in the right direction. Sometimes that fear is the very thing that compels and propels you in the most perfect situation. And had you not risen to the fear and overcame that fear, where would you be today? These are all the lies that I told myself. And these are all the lies that I had to unlearn. So, Auntie, what are you doing now that keeps you grounded, keeps your mind focused, and your inner voice clear? And believe it or not, I'm going old school, y'all. I'm going back to the things that my grandmothers did. See, my ancestors did not have Google or experts or algorithms. They had their knowings. They read the land, the skies, and the body in the dreams. Remember back in the day, your grandmother would say, I dreamt of fishes last night. Anybody and everybody who grew up in the black diaspora understood that somebody was pregnant. They didn't need a pregnancy test to confirm what they already knew. And it is going back to those traditions, going back to that inner wisdom. That is what did not die when they did. It passed through the blood and into the bones, and it has passed down to all of us. It's something about trusting life and really doing the things that your grandmothers did. So, what did my grandmothers do? They used to do things like, I'm going for a walk. I got something I gotta think about. Or old folks used to say, you know what? I think you need to sleep on it. And really, once you sleep on it, you'll feel better in the morning and the answers will come. Or remember back in the day, they used to make children sit down and be still because they wanted you to use your imagination, your creativity. It's all of that that we've gotten away from. When my inner voice speaks, I am not just hearing myself. I am literally connecting with my ancestral practices. I am literally doing what my grandmothers did. So on Sunday mornings, we remember putting gospel music on and everybody getting up and getting ready. I no longer get up and get ready to go to church, but I go for my hikes, and that's where I find God. I am hearing them communicate with me. And I am trusting what I am hearing. I trust it's not just for me, but it's for every generation that carried this knowing so I could have access to it today. What is in your knowing that right now that you need to trust? And are you willing to trust that inner compass? Because the truth of the matter is, y'all, this world is going upside down and the shit is on fire. Every morning when we wake up, something happened the night before when we went to sleep. This is the appropriate time to develop a connection with your inner voice because I'm telling you, when the rest of the world lies to you, you are going to need that inner voice to point you in the right direction. You're going to need that inner voice to guide you. And right now, more than ever before, you are going to need to know the difference between what is real and what is not. With AI going around, taking people's voices, changing videos, doing all kinds of wild and crazy things, you need that inner compass now, online within yourself more than any time before. So let me bring you back to where we started. What did you know that no one told you, but you knew it? What is in you that you had an inkling for, a feeling of, the way you need to maneuver, the way you need to move around in this life at this time? Write it down this week. Stop explaining it to people who are not equipped to understand. Let me explain something to you that my grandmother told me one day. She said, Charmaine, you never tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. Sometimes your blessings, your manifestations cannot take place because you're talking too much. You're telling people too much. You're putting too many eyeballs on your inner voice's desires, your heart's desires, you're putting too many eyeballs on it. Sometimes you just gotta learn to shut the hell up. And work in silence and maneuver accordingly. When you're ready, choose it. Don't be afraid of it. And it is okay if you're uncertain. But the more you listen to that inner voice, that still knowing, you will find that it will show up for you every time. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining me at Soul Tribe Podcast. I am so glad to have you here, and I am so glad to have you a part of the Soul Tribe. Remember, don't just join us at the Soul Tribe Podcast. Join us at Soul Tribe Media and also visit us at beadsandpotions.com where everything that I talk about, we put it into real practice using real spiritual tools. Love you for real. Peace and love, y'all. Hey Soul Tribe. Welcome to Soul Tribe Media, where ancestral wisdom meets modern storytelling and every piece of content was created with you in mind. Join us monthly for a day in a life with Auntie, where she opens up the doors and brings you along for the highs and the lows and real moments of her spiritual journey. Every week, the OK Universe I Hear You blog meets you right where you are. Real talk, honest, real, and rooted. Read it and reflect on it. Subscribe to the Soul Tribe Podcast, dropping every week. Real conversations about spirituality, healing, purpose, and unfiltered work of becoming your highest self. Sign up for BMP Chronicles, our monthly newsletter that goes deeper than the feed ever could. This is where the real wisdom lives. Don't miss it. Pull up every week on TikTok for tea time with Auntie. Grab your cup, get comfortable, and get ready because we are getting into it. Every Sunday, meet Auntie on YouTube for Soul Tribe Sunday, fresh off the trail, straight from the heart. No script, no filter, just the word your soul needs for the week. Tune in, you don't want to miss it. Soul Tribe Media exists because your spiritual growth deserves more than a post. It deserves a community, a consistent voice, and a content that actually shows up for you every single week. Everything you need to grow, heal, and show up fully is already waiting for you, beloved. You found your people. Now come home. So Tribe.media.