I will sometimes hear voices distinct from my own thoughts. It is a different experience than thoughts that are verbalized in the head. I can clearly tell the d

I will sometimes hear voices distinct from my own thoughts. It is a different experience than thoughts that are verbalized in the head. I can clearly tell the difference between those two experiences. I will sometimes experience an in-between state where my consciousness knows it is generating the voice at the same time it is experiencing it as a distinct voice. Sometimes I have access to the tuning knob, and I can turn it to modify how distinct I am experiencing it. Both the experience of distinct voices and verbalized thoughts are also distinct from thoughts that have no verbal components. They might be in visual or tactile form. Sometimes they are in purely conceptual form with no sensory expression. So not everyone experiences thoughts the same way. "Is it a lack of agency or the voice sounding different or something? It feels poorly defined." If you experience it, it is pretty obvious, though hard to describe. "Thoughts seem to be happening all the time and are not always super directed (isn't the goal of mindfulness to get a better handle on this?)." Goal of mindfulness is not to get a better handle on thoughts. That's a side-benefit of mindfulness meditation. The main "goal" of mindfulness meditation is awakening to true nature of being, and along the way, there are many useful and practical side benefits such as being better able to clearly distinguish how thoughts and mind works.