Consumption Affects Production
Every day, most of the things I do or say are being consumed by someone else. I assume that unless you talk to yourself for hours at a time, the same is true of you.
The food I make, the words I say, the things I do… they involve at least one other person besides me. Which is awesome and I am very happy about. I like people.
I unequivocally love the people that are consuming the things I create. Well, most of the people. I’m not fond of that surly salesperson at Verizon I tried to talk to a few weeks ago about how crappy my HTC Eris has turned out to be. You’d think he’d designed the phone with his rude, unpleasant, poor customer service offering little brain.
But, for the most part, I am blessed to have that which I produce and create be consumed by others.
Still.
I think it’s important to produce at least one thing every day that nobody is consuming. It’s important to do that one thing every day that exists completely and only for your eyes. This is not to be confused with doing something for yourself, though that’s a good thing and the two might intersect.
No, I mean that you should make or do something once a day that doesn’t require any other person to look at it, understand it, know it, do anything at all with it or most importantly that doesn’t require anyone to like it.
I don’t know what your thing could be. Maybe it could be singing. Or dancing in your living room with the music turned up really loud. Or drawing a sketch of a knife sticking out of your boss’s back.
My thing is writing. I realized the other day, that I hadn’t written something that wasn’t being read by somebody else in almost a year. How did that happen?
It’s difficult to have a strong authentic vision of yourself if you’re never intellectually or creatively alone. Most importantly, how do you know what you really, really like if you always have to consider what someone else might think of it?
I know there’s someone out there saying that they don’t care about what anyone thinks of the stuff they create or say or do, and good for them, but I contend that not caring about a reaction really has little bearing on how that reaction may or may not affect what you’ve produced. In fact, I’ve noticed that a lot of people who “don’t care about what anyone thinks” tend to cling very tightly to things they are lukewarm about just to prove a point.
So, yeah, I think everyone needs to make or do something that they make or do just for the sake of… making or doing.
What’s your thing?
*Speaking of consumption, I posted about hummus and communism today on Aiming Low. Check it out, if you have time.
31 Responses to Consumption Affects Production
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That was very thought provoking. With my blog, twitter, Facebook, etc. I’ve gotten so used to writing publicly, I’ve almost forgotten about the pleasures of writing purely for the self. Even though I don’t write my posts with the reader in mind, it would be a lie not to admit that the reader is ALWAYS somewhere hovering around, and I expect him to read what I am writing.
@Neil, Yes. What he (and you) said. And I even BOUGHT a journal two months ago, with the intention of just… not hitting send/publish/tweet/share.
Where did that two months go?
@Zoeyjane, More importantly, why did your comment show up in my spam folder. That’s just wrong…
@Faiqa, Your technology is critiquing my writing! It’s symptomatic of work-killing-art.
@Neil, Exactly… also, I think twitter has had a significant impact on me in this respect.
Painting; art, in general.I need to do more of it. Oddly enough, my artwork is the one thing that I *do* care what people think – problem is, I care what I think most. (Worst critic and all…)
Regardless, I keep putting it off until I have more time. I need to make the time.
@Sybil Law, I’m my worst critic, too. I’ve started a journal for myself, so to combat that I made a promise to myself that I would not go back and read any entry until at least several months had passed. It’s worked out well so far.
I have said many times over the years that I started blogging so that I could re-find my writing voice. There are things that I write but end up not posting. But I save them for myself. Just like there are food dishes I cook for myself but which I don’t post. There are just some things that are for me and not others.
@Kailyn, This is exactly what I mean. I think the food thing is a great example. I know if I were just cooking for myself, for example, that the end result would be very different.
I’ve never written for myself… to me, if no one is going to read something, why write it at all? Maybe that sounds hollow or short-sighted, but I write to be read.
As for stuff I do that no one else sees, other than goofing on the various technologies (laptop, iPhone, PSP), everything else is viewed or received by others.
@SciFi Dad, It doesn’t sound hollow… I think it just means you have a strong and deep sense of yourself and don’t see the need to explore or question how much others influence that understanding.
I thought this was going to be a post about reducing your consumption or rethinking what you consume based on how they were produced. You know, like from an environmental angle.
But… NO.
I’m going to be contrary here and say that for ME, I don’t think it is important for me to PRODUCE something for myself every day. Do something for myself? Yes. But not necessarily create.
That’s not to say that I don’t see the benefit of doing it at all or doing it on occasion. But I don’t feel like it’s an integral part of what I need. Producing/creating isn’t a core value/need for me, though, so that’s probably why.
Incidentally, I don’t write to create, I write to express. And I HAVE found that I needed to pull back and allow myself to have thoughts, feelings and expressions that were just for me.
@Miss Britt, It’s fascinating how people can do the same thing for different reasons. I definitely have the need to express, but my need to create is far more important in terms of expressing myself, if that makes sense.
@Faiqa, It is fascinating and does make sense.
For you it’s the product. For me it’s the process.
Time out – didn’t you say that T was reading the stuff you write “just for you”?
@Miss Britt, I have two journals, right now. One of them is a creative writing journal with writing prompts, that’s the one I share with Tariq. I also have a private journal, though. He doesn’t read that one. In fact, as I mentioned to Sybil, I don’t even re-read those entries and have made a promise to myself not to read them until several months have passed. Those entries are pure expressions of my creativity only produced with the intent of releasing thoughts. So, no, Tariq doesn’t read the stuff that’s just for me, he reads the stuff that is not for anybody else but him and me.
does the dancing at home count if my dogs can watch? actually, the german shepherd likes to dance when i do so maybe that really doesn’t count.
@hello haha narf, I think it counts… dogs love you no matter what.
Does eating chocolate covered Ritz crackers while nobody is watching count? Please, please, say yes!
P.S. Great seeing you and the children the other day. They are getting so big! And, of course, for the “lesson” in na-na vs. na-ni? Interesting!
Take care.
@Dede, Mmmm… chocolate and ritz crackers… what were we talking about again?
I don’t know what I do that someone else doesn’t consume during the day. I read, but that’s me consuming something. I really don’t know, thanks for giving me something to think about!!
@Becca, I may be taking for granted that everyone finds fulfillment through discovery or creation. That might not apply to you. I love to read, too, btw.
I’ve been writing privately for about a year. I’m taking pottery at school for no good reason other than personal enjoyment. I knit.
I think that’s it!
@Karen Sugarpants, Clearly, all this is the secret to your wonderful.
Does masturbation count?
But what about that tree and the falling in the woods when no one’s there to hear it? See what I’m getting at here?
Do you see the lightbulb over my head? I write so much for public consumption, and now my hobby, my just-for-me photography is on display, all the while I’m trying to put out short fiction that someone will actually publish.
But…
What if I just wrote the fiction for me? To please myself? Eventually I will produce something I that MUST share and maybe then I will be published.
Yes.
Right now, I sing in the car and make a separate lunch to take to work that is just for me (cooking is one of my expressions).
What an interesting post, and an interesting question. I used to write in a journal, which I guess was just for me. Now I have my blog. I don’t have very big readership, but still, people do read. I don’t get time for myself every day, but I’m definitely thinking about this now.
doesn’t going to the toilet count as doing something for yourself?
I guess for me it would also be writing. I need to write in some format every day, and have kept a journal since I was 12 years old. Now I keep journals on my night table where I write to each of my children, sort of like their baby books, but more.
I am another one that is more interested in the process than the product. I get a lot of enjoyment out of a finished product that turns out well, but I most enjoy the making of the thing. For me it’s art of one kind or another; photography, cakes, painting, drawing, all give me a creative outlet that is immensely satisfying.