Episode 24 – Consuming or Creating?

• You have many options with each day you start
• Most likely, a large portion of your day is filled with obligations – things you have to do
• If you were either lucky or very deliberate in your choice of work – then you found something that feels less like a duty and more like fun
• But then you also have some free time where you can choose your activities
• Some people have free time all day, others none
• I see each day consisting of 3 major activities – they are
• Consuming, learning, and creating
• When I think back of my childhood, which I spent mostly with my grandparents, I recall my grandfather spent the majority of the day creating
• He was a miller by profession and in his free time he built things in his workshop or improved the house we lived in
• I have memories from him pouring concrete to pave a driveway, making a bookshelf for me out of wood, and repairing his old motorcycle
• My grandmother spent a lot of time either in her garden or in the kitchen and the results of her creations were always appealing to the eyes and the nose
• To my grandfathers despair, I was more of a consumer
• I loved consuming the delectable dishes my grandmother created
• I liked watching certain shows on TV
• My grandparents only turned the TV on at night for about 2 hours, sometimes less because they often fell asleep in front of it, exhausted from their hard work
• Of course back then I didn’t see their efforts as creation – to me it was hard work
• And that was something I wanted to stay away from as much as possible
• the modernization of our world brought MORE of everything
• more products and services for everyones consumption and enjoyment
• this in turn freed up time
• think – carwash, grocery stores in closer proximity, or even as a delivery, frozen meals, washing machines, digital cameras, streaming media, and last but not least – the internet
• think about all the time just these few examples save you any given week
• sadly, we have flipped – from a society that creates to live happily to one that see as a fulfilled life in increased consumption
• our basic human needs have not changed much over the centuries – we need shelter, food, fellow human beings and emotional and intellectual stimulation and fulfillment
• but with an over-abundance of products and services, and the creativity of companies that try to sell them to us through every imaginable channel, we are constantly confronted with the option to consume
• yesterday evening I went for a walk
• there is a pastry shop near my house that closes at 6 on weekends
• I suddenly saw myself looking at full shelves of delicious looking treats at 5.30pm.
• I remember my childhood when the bakery in town closed early on Saturdays and if you didn’t show up by mid-morning, their shelves might be empty
• This was the same with other things – there was a limited supply and there was always the danger that you might not get what you really want
• Today – everything you can think of is always available
• If your favorite Chinese restaurant is already closed at 10pm, you drive across town and find one that’s still open
• I remember weekends that I spent going out, or at home watching movies, eating, sleeping, a few minors chores and that’s it.
• After such weekends I often felt empty and unproductive. A gnawing dissatisfaction told hold of me
• When I expressed this to others they would always respond with things like – oh that’s just the german in you, or the guilt , or they told me that those are what weekends are for, to have fun
• I could never really get my head around that
• And when I had deeper conversations with close friends, it turns out they often felt the same way

• I believe we are all mean to create – some with their body, others with their brains and their mind
• we all are endowed with gifts – things we are good at, that come easier to us, that we are passionate about
• The reason we have these gifts is so we can contribute to not only our own survival and advancement, but also that of our community, the society as a whole, and ultimately that of the human race
• I don’t care what people say but I KNOW with certainty that we did not go through such a painful process of maturing in our mothers womb for 9 months and then being born under such painful circumstances to then spend the majority of our lives watching television
• just look at all the mental illness in the world – anxiety, depression, fear and other issues people carry
• compare that to the time you planted flowers, took a jewelry class, painted your room, picked berries in a field, and how fulfilling that felt
• think of the last time you made a list of something, anything
• the simple act of doing something that we believe to add value to our lives or the lives of other is fulfilling and brings contentment
• I am not suggesting we go back to the old days and grow all our own vegetables and raise animals for consumption
• But I believe we need to find a balance between consuming time and creating time
• And I am adding one more element in there which is learning time
• I see learning as somewhere in between
• Learning is consuming of knowledge that others created but it’s that knowledge you need to create something
• It’s the bridge between consuming and creating
• That’s the goal of schooling – that you learn skills you can apply in life
• The problem is that school mostly gives us basics
• Its then up to us to expand the knowledge into the direction we feel drawn to
• And sometimes this direction is not clear right away, or it changes a few times
• But acquiring new knowledge will help you discover your passion which one day you may apply to create something for others
• And that knowledge doesn’t have come from formal schooling
• Life itself is a good teacher
• Now there are people that also spent all day learning and never apply their knowledge anywhere
• They are Not in balance either
• Find your balance.
• Catching up on your favorite Netflix show is consuming
• Posting comments all day long on social media is reacting
• If you create all day at work but don’t find it enjoying, then look for a change
• Your creation should give you joy, and challenge you,
• It doesn’t have to be perfect, you get better the more you do
• And to help you get inspired here is a question that you should ask yourself from time to time:
  • What do I want the world to remember of me?

“We are all refugees from our childhoods. And so we turn, among other things, to stories. To write a story, to read a story, is to be a refugee from the state of refugees. Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment when anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.”
― Mohsin Hamid, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia