We are either creating or consuming, having thought about this for a while, I think we are built to consume and have to intentionally switch to creating. We are going to talk about a lot of words beginning with C … Creativity, consumption, contentment, comfort comas and more…
I believe creativity is core to us realising fulfilment, but we are surrounded by environments that promote consumption. Thinking about it what’s the easy option in any given situation, to consume, to sit back and take in the situation and there’s a place for this but in my life i think I’ve got the ratio drastically wrong, I have been consuming comfortable jobs, netflix, food, putting me in this comfort coma created through consumption. Consumption is driven by the desire for comfort. Comfort is often confused with joy. How is our consumption fueled by our need for comfort? Your comfort coma will limit your joy and is probably something you can’t see currently.
So the model, the thought I want to share, is this, what’s the right ratio in your life between creation and consumption [ Cr : Co ] .
Look around you, at the most content people, are they consuming or creating? and in what ratio are they creating or consuming. If I take my brother, he is one of the most content people I know, he does a standard IT job, but this boring IT job allows him to consume his games, to create during his gaming, but his ratio of consumption to creativity breaks how i was thinking about this ratio… and really points to this ratio, being important, but also being very specific to you. This is super personal stuff but it’s definitely something to think about.
For me, my ratio is out of balance, I’m almost 10:90 on the consumption side…. and this awareness is helping me realise how this ratio points to a value of mine, the value of creativity over consumption! my ratio needs to flip, and to achieve that I need to reduce my consumption and potentially my comfort.
Comfort is a good thing but it shouldn’t be a replacement for joy, in fact comfort can be a barrier to joy in my opinion. That awareness is a driver for this podcast, an attempt to create a space to create, to challenge my mind to switch from comfort coma caused by consumption, to creativity driven fulfilment
Without consumption we can’t create, creativity for me is an out flowing of the stuff we consume. In the big data world the 3Vs get talked about a lot, volume, variety and velocity. I think those 3 v’s are a good model when we look at what we are consuming,
Volume = how much stuff are we consuming? And is what the ratio above would help you balance out.
Variety = am i actively pushing out of my echo chamber? Do i allow my self to consume things outside of my likes.
Velocity = how fast is what I’m consuming getting absorbed, do i take enough time to full absorb or the things i want to consume. Do i rush my reading time? Do i study books or just skim read them for example.
I would add a 4th V in this scenario, Value, is what I’m consuming going to add value to my life or detract from my life. Social media is a good example of this, is my social media time spent look at funny memes and visually stimulating stuff, or is it used to find opposing views or do research…
So What?
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What is your ratio?
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Where are the areas of consumption in your life vs the areas of creativity? Where do you think the right balance is for you?
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How do you ensure value in what you consume?
To work my ratio out I roughly mapped 24hrs in my average day… align each hour to creativity vs consumption… and just allow yourself to sit with the answer. I don’t want you to think creativity is the correct answer, but in my world creativity is far more important than consumption.
So go create conversations, go create sweat, go create new knowledge , go create ….
Let me know in the comments what your Cr : Co Ratio looks like currently.
Watch the Podcast here on Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/@DeltaPod
