Title: "Consume Less, Create More"
Date: 2019-08-28
Written on: Dell XPS 410
Mood: Awake
Listening to: Poets of the Fall - My Dark Disquiet

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  So, I'm sitting here, reinstalling Windows Vista on the laptop, trying to
catch up on things happening in the gopherspace. The last few nights have kept
me from doing so due to storms, which keep knocking out power at home. At any
rate, a post by Alex Schroeder immediately caught my attention just from the
title: /Creating/.[0]

  I thought to myself, "Creating /what/?", and clicked through. It's actually
about an essay titled "Consume less, create more"[1]. I *highly* recommend
reading the essay, as it's quite interesting.

  However, as a fiction writer, I do have one thing to say about this subject:
Find a balance between consumption and creation.

  Creating more things, whether it's art, essays, books, music, or whatever you
may enjoy, is very much something I encourage. But never let that desire of
creation /consume *you*/. I've torn myself apart this way, burning out on the
very thing that normally brings me joy. And it's something that, from
experience, will leave you wanting /only/ consumption for a while, as your
creative side recovers from excessive use.

  Consume some, create some.

  Inspiration can come from anywhere. Use that to your advantage as you
consume, so that your creations benefit from the boost of drive you get from
that inspiration. You'd be surprised at just how much of a difference it makes
in the end result.

  Seeing that person sketching on the bus created the inspiration needed for
TJCX to write their essay. The essay inspired others, myself included, to talk
about that essay. Perhaps what I've written will inspire someone to write about
the subject as well. And so on.

  Consume.
  Create.
  Consume.
  Create.

  A cycle that may never end, but never really needs to.

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[0]: gopher://alexschroeder.ch/12019-08-25_Creating/menu
[1]: https://tjcx.me/posts/consumption-distraction/