it's not just about consuming less...

Why to be a good creator you have to be a good consumer

Everyone talks about we need to create more than we consume and I agree with that.

The average person will spend years of their life staring at a screen throughout their lifespan doing nothing but consuming mindless crap.

Remember the people in WALL-E?

Immobile, lazy, dopamine-addicted flesh sacks who couldn't see the beauty of the real world and didn’t realize how they were destroying it.

Well, I hate to break it to you. But we’re quickly approaching that reality.

Actually, some people live like this already.

But, if you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably not like those people. And if you are you probably want a way out.

You want to create something. You want to live a full life. A life with joy, health, wealth, and community.

So what do you do? Delete everything right? Go on a dopamine detox. Go off-grid. Read more. Work out. Etcetera

These are great and all, but I think cutting everything out might actually be a mistake.

Things like social media are here to stay for the foreseeable future and although they are the bane of most people’s existences, they can still be tools.

We talk about social media being the destruction of those core parts of humanity:

• Community

• Creativity

• Health

• Spirituality

And when you view social media from a consumer’s mindset, those things are true.

Yet, switching creative perspectives will not only protect you from the potential pitfalls of social media, but it can help you build up those core components above.

acknowledge the distraction

J. Cole, one of my favorite rappers, said that he went on a social media detox for a time for his mental health.

During this time he started meditating regularly. He would sit and just focus on his breath and if a distracting thought came up, he’d recognize it and go back to focusing on his breath.

Whilst he was on this journey, he realized that instead of avoiding it altogether, he wanted to eliminate social media’s power over his mentality.

So what did he do?

He re-downloaded the apps and used them with the same mindset he had when meditating.

He went there to connect and if he got distracted by negative comments, he recenters himself and refocuses on connection.

For these apps, distraction is a feature, not a bug. However, we can mute or turn off that feature by setting an intention before we use social media.

For example, I want to use Instagram as a discovery platform and a place where I show my creativity. With this intention in mind, I only interact with content that aids me in that goal and set a limit for how much information I take in on a given day.

Of course, I get distracted sometimes, but I can always recenter myself back to why I’m scrolling there in the first place.

engage. engage. engage

Most people are lurkers on social media.

They tap, scroll, tap, and scroll. On a good day, they’ll comment or share something they saw.

Another avoidable pitfall.

There are some really talented creatives on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, etc.

Like you, they create things and are brave enough to post what they make on a public forum.

You probably already follow creators you resonate with. They either have something about their personality that you want for yourself or they have a community around them that you want to be a part of. Whatever it is, you followed them for some reason.

Why not send them a comment? Encouraging them on their journey or asking them for some advice. Be a more active member of their community. If they hold events, attend them.

You already follow people that you somewhat admire. They must have some quality that you want in yourself. Or maybe they’ve cultivated a community that you wish to be a part of.

So what’s stopping you from reaching?

set an intention to create

If you’re like me you may have fallen into the habit of aggressively saving videos or taking screenshots of photos to “reference later.”

You hoard all this information and content to use on that special day you decide to create something.

Thinking like this makes you no different than those people on hoarder shows buying stuff they know they don’t need to use in some imaginary future.

Do you want to be a creator or do you want to be a hoarder?

If you want to be the former you need to start using social media inspiration. But for real this time.

If you see a cool video, try to recreate it. If you hear a profound point, talk about your interpretation of it.

The difference between the people on the other side of the screen and you is that they’re simply putting the drafts on full display.

A simple exercise you could do is when you see anything that inspires you, don’t just save it to a random all-encompassing folder.

Name a folder “To be recreated” or something like that and set the goal to recreate that piece of content the next day.

Not only do get the inspiration, but you get the implementation as well.

tools can be dangerous, but they still serve a purpose

Almost everyone has handled a knife before yet they can be extremely dangerous.

Without taking the proper precautions, you can lose a finger.

With the wrong intentions, it can be used to hurt people.

But, when you know how to use one, it becomes an essential tool.

This is how I see social media and many creatives could benefit from seeing it that way too.

Till next time xx

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