Consumption vs. Creation: An Open Letter To Creatives
Until recently, I haven’t had access to the internet at the house. And man, it was rough… or so I thought.
But I’ve never been more productive. Now that I’ve “rejoined civilization,” I realize that I wasn’t missing much.
As a singer-songwriter and podcaster, what I’m about to say goes against my own self-interest. I need people to consume my work. But as creatives, we need to do less consuming and more creating. Yes, even if that means turning off my podcast.
We tell ourselves that we are “doing research” or “looking for inspiration.” And there is some truth in that…to a point. But there is a tipping point we reach where the returns diminish. At some point, we are the equivalent of couch potatoes.
My Facebook feed is still filled with memes about how great Prince was. And he was. But you know how he got to be great? He worked on his craft. He wasn’t residing on social media, posting memes about Jimi Hendrix or James Brown. He was doing the work. (Yes, I realize there wasn’t the internet when he was coming up, but you get my point.)
I’m not suggesting that we should unplug from everything and not enjoy things that others produce. And I realize the irony of posting this on Medium while I should be recording. But this message is meant to wake me up as much as it is anyone else.
I’m just suggesting that we become deliberate in what we consume, in order to produce great art ourselves.
http://leftofnashville.com/act3
Brandon Barnett is a singer-songwriter from Jackson, Tennessee. He is also the creator of Left Of Nashville, a documentary podcast highlighting the ups and downs in attempting to have a career in music. @leftofnashville on Twitter and Instagram.
