I agree with others, I don't think it's unusual.
It may seem this way if most people you talk to, as you say, think it is. But: in a comment you say that it's "teachers" saying this. Maybe there's the rub: teachers (mostly) would have a degree in music, wouldn't they? And the academic music "establishment" (for want of a better word) seems (from my experience with people who got taught this stuff instead of mostly learning on their own) to be focused on a rather brainy approach.
Long rant shortened: academically, you start with "structure", with "think about what you build", and then fill in the details (melody being just a detail); you start with theory. While you want/tend to start with a... feeling? An intuition? And then construct the framework around and under it. Practice -> theory. While teachers are "indoctrinated" to do theory -> practice. You can replace theory with brain and practice with heart. Same thing.
I always think of a famous quote: "I play what I feel like playing. May other people think and analyze what exactly it is I'm playing, if that's what they enjoy. I don't care". Heavily paraphrased from a famous blues-man that I can't remember right now.
(Personal anecdote of being the only person w/o a theoretical background in music in a band of theory-minded people elided... ;-))