Creating vs. Consuming

Leadership

Jul 17

Written By Ashley Dodge

Work is love made visible. – Kahlil Gibran

Happy Monday!

Do you love the work you do that takes you through most of your days?

That kind of soul satisfying work that gets you out of bed each morning with a smile?

Whether it’s work for financial gain or to simply to maintain the lifestyle that matters most to you. Let’s say “love” gets quantified by enjoying your days at least 90% of the time.

There used to be this philosophy that if we just worked hard at a job, we could then enjoy life 2 days out of 7, or later on down the road. Hopefully most of us have seen past that corporate instilled belief by now and can enjoy our lives as they stand each day, in this day.

When you look at the reality of the short time we actually have to spend in this life, taking any day for granted takes on a whole different look and feel.

I was listening to the audiobook, Building a Second Brain, while gardening this weekend. The subtitle, A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential, caught my attention along with a client’s enthusiasm in recommending the book.

As I listened to what the author had to say what really impacted me the most was the idea around putting more time into what we are creating versus what we are continually consuming. We can easily overlook how much we are actually consuming and end up in overwhelm with so much content and information coming at us each day.

Perhaps the best thing is a subtle balance between the two as we find unique ways to connect with others on and offline. Creating true connections, connections where your own voice is fully being heard. Without our own creativity coming into play in so much of what we do, the day-to-day can feel meaningless sometimes. And who has time for that?

Today’s picture above happened after a beautiful hike last week here in Boulder with my son Travis and his sweet girlfriend Kate while they were here visiting. The goal was to of course enjoy the hike and for Travis to create some new artwork when we reached the top of the ridge.

And create new artwork he did! After creating the piece, he had fun letting me pretend to knock the rocks down after naming it… Stability. He then did knock it down leaving it to go back to nature as he does with each of the artwork piece he creates. You can check out the final piece he created here.

This practice of his is a great reminder that creativity is such a personal element that we can share with others in our own way. With that, I encourage take the time to pay attention to how you create versus consume this week. See how differently it makes you feel. Let yourself fully feel the feelings that creativity can bring to your life.