Prism

It's a good suggestion, when composing or improvising, to start with some musical idea, our thematic material, subject it to the craft of harmony and counterpoint, and shine it through the prism of our own personal life's experiences to give it a shape.
When we do this we introduce symbolism into the writing and give it an originality that's all our own [See blog, Getting Started With Writing, Parts II, VI, VII, X].
In so doing, we can find our own voice in a world full of composers; we can discover what makes us unique as a creator and follow that [See blog, Finding Our Voice].
And very often we will beauty where we believed, or were told, that there was none.