Production vs. Consumption
There’s a lot of things about people that, in spite of all my studies and observations, I still don’t get. I’ll give you a couple, just on a personal level:
1. You drink a bottle of bourbon or gin every day and when you quit drinking people wonder why, or you hear rumors that people think you’re having a mid-life crisis. But you drink a Red Bull or put Splenda in your coffee and people act like they’re talking you out of jumping off the Empire State Building.
2. The people who ask, “how do you have time to waste making all those videos?” are the same people who say, “I can’t believe you haven’t seen this new show on Netflix!!!!”
There’s only so much time in a day, and in my forties, I’ve consumed enough to not have to consume as much in order to produce. But let me be clear up front, I still consume some media, I just consume less of it and in specific ways.
· My day job is sales. I spend a lot of time in the car. My first choice is usually to call someone to talk, but I can’t always do that, so I might listen to music, or a podcast. If it’s a long enough drive, an audio book is also an option. There’s a good chance it’s music-related, but it could also be theology or hockey.
· I watch a little YouTube every day. Typically, about forty-five minutes at dinner with my wife. This might consist of the news of the day, something to do with music or stand-up comedy. This usually facilitates conversations between us. On the weekends, we’ll watch a documentary, usually music related, and we try to have family movie night one night a week where we watch a classic or a comedy.
· I don’t read as much as I used to, but I still read, mostly biographies and fiction. Usually, Southern Gothic or the classics.
· Come play-off time, I will watch NCAA and NHL play-offs on TV. Other than that, I only watch a handful of games throughout the year.
So, I’m obviously not living under a rock, but I spend more time at Magness Arena watching hockey in person with family and friends than I do watching it on TV. In doing so, I’m not just watching hockey, but I’m also engaging with fellow students, alumni and other fans (including chirping opposing fans, which, to be honest, is a lot of fun).
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying sports and entertainment… to a point.
I would argue that consumption of knowledge does not make you intelligent and consumption of art does not make you cultured. Doing something with it is what makes you intelligent or cultured. Do you gather information and then think critically about it or do you just swallow the data and move onto the next info meal? Do you look at (or listen to, or whatever) the art or do you experience it? How does it influence the rest of your life?
As a songwriter, I’m no different than a guy who designs and builds a table. You have a creative idea, then you become a craftsman and make it come into being. During the process of the craft, you’re probably re-engaging that creativity to solve problems. I don’t know how creativity works that well, but I work hard at the craft of making my ideas tangible. I’m not special, not in the least. I just spend time working at something that most people would prefer to consume. Which is fine, I need people to enjoy what I create, that’s the point of putting it out into the world. I just hope those people are listening while they’re making tables or baking or painting or doing whatever it is they do to produce for themselves.
At the end of the day, how we influence those around us isn’t by what take, but by what we make. It’s less by our words and more by our actions. Your thing could be working on cars, or carpentry, or gardening, or cooking, or any number of things, but I encourage all of you to shift more of your time into producing things than consuming things. You’ll be happier, trust me. I’ve never heard anyone say they wished they watched more TV or consumed more social media, only when they give it up do they say, “I don’t miss it at all.”
Let me be clear, I’m not telling anyone what to do, at all. I am, however, asking you to ask yourself the question of, “Am I making the most of my time?” That’s it. There are all kinds of valuable ways to spend your time, just make sure you’re pursuing the value and not the path of least resistance.