On Creating
This is the long over due post for the “personal” category.
Why did it take so long?
Why was is so difficult writing something personal, when this is a personal site or maybe even a personal blog?
The theme behind those questions and the topic of this post is based on musings I had in the last weeks. Those thoughts revolve around creating rather than consuming. The difficulties of making something compared to receiving something. Even if this something actually is nothing of value. I’ll try to summarize my thoughts here. I’m translating them on-the-go from German to English so there may be some funny sentences in here.
I’m pondering. A day has 24 hours. There is a general rule of thumb, which divides those 24 hours into 8’s: 8 hours of sleeping, 8 hours of work, 8 hours of leisure. The real world obviously diverges from that rule due to the most personal reasons. But, trying to stick to those 8’s: Any given person should have 8 hours of leisure. It’s up to the individual to decide on what to do in those 8 “free” hours. Well, again the reality does not stick to those 8 hours. In a simple calculation, one has to subtract around 2 hours total of commuting to and from work, 1 hour of personal caretaking (think basic hygiene, eating, drinking, getting dressed) and 1 hour of surrounding caretaking (cleaning up living spaces, basic shopping). What’s left then from 8 hours are 4. Still plenty of time to actually create instead of consume. However the energy level of that person will most likely be depleted already.
Four hours of time per day to do stuff. I’m pondering again, what do I actually do. I consume rather than do. It’s easier, my energy is low, time will pass and I can go to sleep again for another round the next day. But is it really like that? Is the reason missing energy, missing will to do? Do we, as humans, have to want to do? I really don’t have answers to those questions. I’m certain that not all humans have to want to do and I’m equally certain that it’s for the better that not all humans are like this. At a certain degree it’s up to each individual to know what they want to do. There’s no general basic law guiding humans on this topic. However, I for myself know that I want to stop consuming so mindlessly and start to use my leisure-time as productive-time.
Compared to everything else, there is little time to be productive in the personal sense. There are rules on sleeping, work, eating, hygiene and so on. Productive-time also needs rules. Rules strict enough to force myself to create, but lax enough to allow myself to also be creative about being productive.
The first step is the most difficult. Always keep that in mind.
Strive to be productive and not consumptive.
Create for yourself.
Regulate distractions.
I try to remind myself of those guidelines, rather than rules, when feeling uneasy, when reaching for another consumer service, when I don’t know what’s the thing I have been missing that day. Let’s dig a bit into those 4 points.
There is a roadblock before each beginning. My mind seeks easy solutions to it’s boredness. The easiest solution is feeding it. Straining it is harder, but more rewarding. It’s the fear of the blank page all over. Fear of what? There is nothing to loose, only to win. Start as one would start consuming: With the most mindless thing, get it out, kick start your brain with mindlessness, the most spontaneous thought will suffice to start.
Create so that something will be left of you. What’s left from a consumptive person when that person is gone. Some vague memory of them consuming. Produce, create and leave a mark for the future, even if nobody at the moment is interested or even able to appreciate what you create.
What you do is not to pleasure nobody else but you. Don’t mind what people want to see. It is not important how many views or token of appreciation or reactions your creation gets. The thing is to use your power, your imagination, your abilities for their own sake. Don’t let them wither to dust.
Everything is competing for you and your attention. You must know that as a human you like the easy way, you strive for the basic needs of yourself. Overcome consumption by regulating the things that facilitate it. Your smartphone is a phone. It’s a tool to create not to consume. How much of your screentime is dedicated to creation and how much to consumption? 90%:10%. If there is no way to be productive on your phone, reduce it’s general use, by regulating the consumption time on it. This will better the ratio. Set App-timers, detox slowly and regain liberty from time-eating habits on this very useful tool.
So to get back to the initial question: It is hard for me to start something like a personal blog post, when starting is hard to do and creating even more difficult. All other posts on this site have been summaries of things I already did or found it. This post comes out of (almost) nothing. Furthermore, but this is another story, writing something personal is in general more difficult for me. It feels revealing, almost like getting naked in public. However is it really that bad to get naked in public? Every human basically is the same and there is nothing too different from one naked body to another.