Podcast Transcript | Ep. 37

Creation and Consumption

Creation & Consumption | Ep. 37

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Order Within Navigating a world of endless chaos and crisis, many of us are experiencing inner turmoil, insecurity, anxiety, fears, and isolation. These feelings are only being amplified by news cycles. Social media and never ending political madness. How do we find our way out of the chaos?

[00:00:24] How do we find strength within ourselves? How do we find meaning in a world driven by materialism? These questions and many more I aim to answer on the show. My goal is to be a trusted guide on your journey to selfhood. May you find what you seek. Hello and welcome everyone. I'm your host. Brandon Ward. Back with another episode of order within. Episode number 37. Today, we're going to be talking about. Creation and consumption. The importance of understanding the roles that both play. In our lives and how to balance them. We've gotten out of balance here.

[00:01:11] This episode is all about. Reclaiming that balance, understanding the power of our creative process. And how the two go together. Really. Consumption is there to support our creative process. We are creative beings. And without our alignment and expression of ourselves. We can become very rigid, very unfulfilled and unsatisfied.

[00:01:42] People. And I think that's a huge thing that's happening in our world today. Why don't think I know it is it's. It's proven when you speak to people, when you look at data, There's just a lot of people that are unhappy. A lot of people that are depressed. And when you look around it's no wonder that we feel unsatisfied with our lives.

[00:02:02] And so we're going to go over a few different things in today's show. Talking about consumption and creation. So we're going to talk about how consumption has replaced creation. We're going to talk about creation is where satisfaction lives. Uh, consumption and entitlement. We're also going to talk about how we.

[00:02:21] How we can bring about and activate. Creation. In our life cultivating the creative call in our life. And.

[00:02:33] That'll wrap the episode.

[00:02:36] So getting into it here.

[00:02:39] The first piece is how creation has replaced. I'm sorry, how consumption has replaced creation? And this process is. It's been happening for decades. And a lot of it is, has been accelerated here in the last. Uh, decade or so with technology and social media and everything that's been happening.

[00:03:03] And with our culture and our culture has pushed us to consume. Really when you look at.

[00:03:11] Our culture and the way standards are set up the way we push for certain. Priorities and the way that we're supposed to live, the things that we're supposed to do, the way we're supposed to present ourselves, the brands, all of that. Like I'm a sales and marketing guy. So I know the value of good branding and marketing. It's important to tell clear stories and communicate value where we create in the market.

[00:03:39] But. When as as humans, as people. When that process. Of consumption has completely replaced our natural instincts and. Our natural inclination towards creation. It's no wonder that we're struggling. It's no wonder that we're suffering and it's no wonder that we're so obsessed with the material because this obsession has.

[00:04:05] Replaced our need for creation. And so we've become very neurotic, very obsessed with materialism. With appearances. And when you look at the high level of. Inauthenticity that exists in social media, all the fakeness, the. The how you can doctor images and videos. Now you can create. Deep fakes.

[00:04:31] And. There are sets and. Scenes you can set up. There's ways that you can go online and take photos on private jets now as if you're riding on a private jet, but it's just grounded and you're taking photos to appear to be that way. So that's an idea of how this priority of consumption has replaced this impetus for creation and were.

[00:04:59] Suffering because of it. And because culture pushes us to consume. It's not showing us how to create. We're not that creative process isn't being supported. Either productivity, isn't being supportive. The thing that's frustrating about it is just how much fulfillment comes from being productive. How much joy can come from being productive, how we can build our self-esteem.

[00:05:25] From being productive. And feel good about who we are because we're using our skills and talents and we're deploying them in a way that other people can leverage and use and take advantage of and enjoy. And then in the process, We earn a living.

[00:05:41] That's a wonderful exchange. That's a wonderful. Thing to happen. It's good for us to have that. Exchange of value. But our culture doesn't.

[00:05:56] Teach us these things, it doesn't teach us that creation is where fulfillment is found and that. We'll find life satisfaction by leveraging our talents, our skills, developing deep skills. And expressing ourselves. Creatively. And that's not just the arts, I've talked about this before on the show, but that's not the arts that's medicine. That's science, that's technology. That's engineering, that's architecture.

[00:06:19] This is applied to all fields of study. It's important that it's applied to all fields of study. We need innovation and creativity and all of these different fields. That's how we move forward as a species. That's how we evolve. Our way of life. But without that, without the creation process and without the understanding of how we create and why it's important and why we need it.

[00:06:45] As a society we're given these shallow. Solutions. And that's really what consumption is. Is there, they're temporary relief. They're bandaids to the wounds that we have that we feel within ourselves in, and the things that we need to do with our lives. They cover up the work that's ahead of us.

[00:07:05] Because. Consumption is meant to be.

[00:07:10] The reward. For our creation, for our productivity. And it is like in many ways it is, but it's become the prime mover of our life. We don't think about creativity. We only think about what we can take, what we can get. What we can consume. Creativity is about producing. About giving about serving.

[00:07:33] And that's a very fundamentally different approach. And so when we're in that consumptive mindset, We're in a taking mindset. And that way of living can be again, very unfulfilling be very unsatisfying, and also be destructive if we're not creating and producing.

[00:07:52] And so without the creative process, when we're skipping that creative process and we're just focusing on the consumption reward and that's all we're getting, that's going to break our reward cycles. That's going to put us into a UN. negative cycle. And a negative relationship with our consumption.

[00:08:10] Because it's going to be, we're going to become dependent upon it.

[00:08:15] And this moves into the section section here. It's second section is without creation. We're not, it's hard to find satisfaction in our lives.

[00:08:26] Creativity productivity.

[00:08:29] Sharing who we are. It's the expression of our being. And when things live inside of us, whatever that is, like I said earlier, this is applied in all areas of life. And whenever we have this pool to create, to produce, to innovate in whatever field it is. That's going to benefit, not only ourselves, but other people.

[00:08:48] So understanding those pools and understanding what is. Calling us forward. What is living within our being. Allows us to share. The value, the creativity that lives inside of us. And this process is the expression of our being creation is the expression of our being it's expression of who we are, what matters to us, the values that we carry, the things that are important.

[00:09:14] That's the upside of it is that we can share those things that live inside of us. They're an extension of who we are and we can share those things with the world so that we can provide value and find fulfillment in that expression.

[00:09:28] It's also the way. We can be of service through our creation, through our productivity. We can serve others. Whether it's businesses or individuals, but we can provide value to the market and we can help other people based on what we've created. And they can benefit from what we create. Because we're authentically sharing what lives inside.

[00:09:54] And that authenticity is what creates value for people we've gotten so used to living in this fake plastic world that we're starved for truth and authenticity. So when we have individuals who can create authentically, who can share. Their skills, their talents, their loves. Creatively and authentically.

[00:10:15] The world evolves. The world expands. We innovate in all these different types of areas and things begin to change. And. We expand as a species. This is the power of it. It's a compounding process too. It can ultimately create a lot of force and power in our society. When we do this as a whole, that's why for me.

[00:10:37] The coaching practice that I've launched. Focusing on building our self worth and understanding the value that we hold, the power that we hold as creative individuals. Is selfishly motivated because the world needs it. The world needs this innovation, the world's needs our creativity, our self-expression so that we can attack the challenges that we face as a society and a species.

[00:11:01] And evolve and move forward. That's the beautiful thing about where we are. And it comes back to our nature. We are made to create, we are made to innovate. The very nature of being human and our conscious minds, our ability to observe. To problem solve to identify weak points. And innovate is what makes us unique in the universe. It's our place in the animal kingdom.

[00:11:28] This is how we separate us ourselves from the animal kingdom. And why it's so important. This creative conscious process is what makes us unique. And it's inherent in our abilities on earth. So these abilities are a part of the value that we create. They're a part of our purpose in the universe. So leveraging our creative unit, our creative energies can help us.

[00:11:53] Influence and shape the world that we're part of earth depends upon us to do that. That's the role that we play in nature here. Is to leverage our creativity and our innovation to evolve the way life lives on this planet. And that's a big responsibility and undertaking, and it's also a very high calling. It's a very wonderful path to have before us.

[00:12:17] And the path is there for each of us. It's just up to us to determine whether we're going to answer the call or not. The choice is ours. It's just up to us to answer that call.

[00:12:30] All right. Moving now. Into consumption and entitlement. And I think. This is a big piece.

[00:12:41] To what's happening in our society. What's happening in our culture.

[00:12:47] And the there's a correlation between our consumption and our entitlement. And so when we, the less we create, the more we consume often, the more entitled we become. We become entitled to the consumption that we've been partaking in. And when we, as the consumption process replaces the creative process, the entitlement becomes higher because in order for us to feel good, to feel okay, to feel in a good place.

[00:13:19] We need consumption. We need the things that we've been consuming. Therefore we need more. So it creates an external cycle. That normally would be fulfilled by a creative process, which has been replaced by a consumption process, which is an endless. Pit to fill. We can't fill the void that we feel in our being.

[00:13:40] Through consumption. It's not possible. Everyone, not everyone, but many people throughout human history have tried it. It's the whole concept of gluttony and living beyond our senses. Living this hedonistic lifestyle. There are plenty. People have lived very hedonistic lives and have come to realize that it's not fulfilling at the end of the day. There's a reason that.

[00:14:05] When you have a lot of money and you continue to do the things like as you, once you have access to all these resources. Things that you can experience continue to expand and grow. And so once you once you knock off list things on your list of experiences, they just, you have to keep going further and further and further and further to get that high, to get that.

[00:14:29] Energy shot that you're looking for, this is why it can become a very destructive cycle because you need more and more and more and more. And depending on what you're doing, a lot of times that will involve drugs and sex and all kinds of things that are potentially harmful to us, because we're trying to fill that consumptive void that we've created.

[00:14:52] That really needs to be filled. With our creation and our creativity, but instead we're seeking to consume and fill that hole with consumption. And because of this process really does create a cycle of addiction. Because we need these things to feel good. We become addicted to the things that we're consuming and we keep pushing for more and more and more, and we rely on them more and more, and it becomes problematic for us to ever let go of, and so we need more things. This becomes a very addictive destructive cycle, as you can imagine.

[00:15:26] Especially if the things that we're consuming are not good for us either. Like it's one thing to consume. Because we need to consume. I'm not saying we don't consume obviously. Consuming is how we sustain our energy, our lives. We need to eat food and water and rest and exercise, and we need clothing. There's all these things that we need.

[00:15:46] But. If we go too far, it becomes destructive and that's what's happened. We've gone way too far. We identify with our consumption. As opposed to our creation. And this is creating this materialistic this externally driven world that's causing so much suffering because as beings of life of spirit of eternity, our desires for truth, for expression, for creativity, for connection, for love.

[00:16:15] And so when we go against those things, we suffer. Naturally.

[00:16:21] But that's why you see such an addictive cycle happening right now is such an, a destructive cycle of what's happening right now in our culture and our society. Is because we've been, we've become addicts to our consumption. There's dopamine cheap dopamine, all around us. It's everywhere. The endless platforms we can watch content, video games, porn.

[00:16:44] Partying, social media, only fans Tinder. All the things that we can do to consume. To distract ourselves are destroying our ability to be fulfilled through creation. And when we don't recognize what's happened, what happens. We cycle out and really can destroy ourselves. So many people end up destroying ourselves.

[00:17:07] Through endless consumption, particularly if they're falling into. More darker spaces like partying. And drinking and having. Unprotected sex and doing all these things. Look, I've done all this stuff. That's why I talk about it. I know how lonely and isolating. and empty that lifestyle can be. I was miserable there. I was the most depressed and sad and isolated I've ever been is when I was partying and drinking and doing all the things I was doing for a lot of my life. I wasn't happy.

[00:17:39] It's because that was a way to try and make myself feel better and fill that void that I felt within, but it doesn't work. It never does. And never will. And it will continue to create these destructive cycles of addiction until we break it. Which is what we're talking about.

[00:17:59] And the. This is the recipe for an empty life. It's it really is. And it's no wonder that so many of us are sad and depressed and isolated and lonely because this consumption path truly is. The it's a way to a very empty unfulfilling life. Again, I've been there. I've lived this way. It's still something that I have to be mindful of. We always will have to be mindful of it because it's the balance of our creation.

[00:18:28] And our consumption are what create the fulfillment in our life. And so when we go about cultivating the creative in our life, because this is the counter to all of this, right? This is the real. The balance to these challenges we face is activating our creativity and deploying our creativity in our life.

[00:18:49] And we do that. By starting small. This doesn't happen overnight. This doesn't need to be this massive change. Just start with a small daily change. Daily habits are going to be the things that, that really create the outcomes we want over time. And something to note. Outcomes always lag behind our efforts, our habits. That's why the habits are so important.

[00:19:13] So the daily habits that we can instill are what allow us to cultivate a creative habit. And we start that small. Truthfully 30 minutes. A day with something is where I would start. Commit to yourself, 30 minutes a day to do a creative activity, whatever that may be. If you're interested in engineering.

[00:19:33] Do something engineering related. If it's architecture, do something architecture related. If it's writing, do writing, painting, paint. Whatever it is. If you're interested in the way. Certain bacteria. Multiply. In certain environments. And focus on that. That is a creative process. The key here is.

[00:19:55] As we're starting small. And we're going to work to build a daily habit, whatever that is. And in the beginning, it could be just simply learning about something that we're intrigued by. Now, I know that's a, that is consuming something. But the idea here is we're going to take that information and we're going to deploy it. So if we need to learn a little bit before we can take action, that's okay, too.

[00:20:15] But don't let that need, or the idea of that need become precedent over actually creating and doing. It's so easy to tell ourselves all, once I learn more, once I do this more. Or once I understand this more, then I'll do it. But the reality is that we learn through action through doing so. We need to get here, get to this place and start taking action.

[00:20:42] As soon as we can, so we can begin to build these habits. That's how we'll uncover. And if we're unsure what it is, that's how we'll uncover these things. It's taking action and starting small. So start small with a daily habit. 30 minutes to an hour, an hour would be better. It's just harder sometimes to get started for that much, but that gives you enough time to actually sit down and get into the space. The challenge is with being creative. Sometimes we got to get into our process.

[00:21:12] And get into the groove, but that's why a process is so important. That's why the daily habits are so important. It's not so much about how we feel. It's about showing up every day to be there and to do the work. And sometimes we don't feel like it. A lot of times we don't feel like it, especially in the beginning, we don't feel like doing it. We're stuck in that dopamine cycle.

[00:21:32] We just want our quick hit. We don't want to do this boring, hard work that this is taking us right now. But that's the key that discomfort you experience in the beginning? Is going to be natural. It's normal to feel that way initially. So those small habits starting daily will be key. To overcome that initial discomfort that we experienced when we start leaning into our creative process. So start small look to build these daily habits.

[00:21:58] Take some days off during the week, find the schedule that works for you. I typically work Monday through Friday and then take the weekends off. That's just what works for me. Some people may do two days, take a day off, do two days, take a day off, whatever it is, but you just got to find a schedule that works for you and you gotta commit to it.

[00:22:16] That's the difference. You gotta be honest with yourself and hold yourself accountable because ultimately that's what will change this. And you can only do that through accountability. So start there. Commit to a schedule of some kind. You can change this right out 30 minutes daily plan your rest so you can recharge a bit, but start there.

[00:22:38] And build small build daily. An easy thing to do is to identify areas or activities that you could swap. So if you typically come home in the evenings after work, And watch three hours of Netflix. Or whatever it may be. Swap 30 minutes of that time for a creative activity, whatever it is. Journaling painting, whatever. Again.

[00:23:03] This isn't limited to the arts. Creative and being creative is applicable to all areas of our life. So find those things that matter to you. And that's the thing you got to reflect on yourself. This is the difference. You got to reflect on what you're interested in self-reflection is going to be the key tool here to help you understand your creative process and what you're drawn to. So this is how you'll create more clarity is by taking action.

[00:23:28] Reflecting on the things that you're interested in and starting small and building that daily habit.

[00:23:35] The upside is there's so many wonderful ways we can be accountable now. And one of the, my favorite things to do is if you are going to do this is to start sharing your journey publicly. Now I know this is scary, but it's an incredible way. To build accountability and partnerships and friendships by doing this publicly. As an example, if you're going to start a journey of creativity,

[00:23:56] You could activate a Twitter profile. If you don't have one, if you do have one, you could start sharing your journey publicly about what you're doing, sharing the things that you're learning, sharing the things that you're focusing on, just to share your story and what you're working on, putting it out there, because there are a lot of other people who are also doing this now and going through very similar changes and we're looking to do specific things in their lives.

[00:24:19] Sharing publicly and out in communal spaces like this on social media can help us build that community and help find that support. And the upside is to, as we start to get encouragement, we see other people are doing similar things and that accountability can help keep us in the game because we realize we're connected to some of these people.

[00:24:37] We don't want to let them down. We're feeling a part of the group of the part of a community here. So we want to participate. So that's a great way to do that. Is accountability through communities, slack groups, social media channels. I've got a coaching services. Uh, well obviously that's another way to do it. If you.

[00:24:52] You can find a good coach that you feel comfortable with. They can help keep you accountable to your process to change, to growing. So there are a lot of options, right? In terms of how we can handle these things and build this habit. But accountability is going to be one of those big things. To ensure that we stick with it.

[00:25:13] So some things that people get stuck on, like here in this process, the last bit we're going to talk about is just thinking about the things that you may be interested in, we're always. Stuck on finding our passion. And I think sometimes our passion can be cultivated. I actually, I know it is a lot of times our passion is cultivated with things that we spend more time with things that we take time to learn things that we take time to grow.

[00:25:34] Our fulfillment and joy from activities. Grows as our skills increase. Because we're more capable, so there's more fulfillment out of the activity. So these things can take time for sure. But I think a thing to consider is what are some things that you just can't shake? What are things that have always been kind of present in your life? What are things that have always been interesting or intriguing to you that you've never taken action on?

[00:26:01] Or some things that have just always been in your life that you haven't quite committed to. Those could be good ways to look for indicators, reflecting on your childhood things that you did as a child, things that you enjoy doing as a child could be another way to figure out some of those activities that.

[00:26:18] Could cultivate your creative process that could engage your creative process. It's just the. The game of self-reflection y'all is a long game as a lifelong game or playing it's a practice. So we have to take the time to really know who we are and spend with ourselves and learn about who we are and what matters to us and parse out what isn't us, because the challenge is a lot of times with doing creative work is.

[00:26:45] We've been. We're part of culture. We're part of society. We're part of families. We're part of communities and those things influence our thinking in our minds and our beliefs. And so we have to through self reflection, parse out what is ourselves, our thoughts, our beliefs, and what isn't. And that happens through self reflection. Sometimes what we think is something that we've been interested in actually isn't and it's really been something that's been given to us and that's okay too. But.

[00:27:11] We have to go about understanding what really is ours. And what really isn't. And self-reflection. It's a great way to do that. And often our childhood can leave bread, crumbs and clues. As to what we're interested in, what we're intrigued by. And what we're drawn to. So just remember y'all this is a lifelong process. It's a process. It's a practice.

[00:27:34] Creativity is a practice, practicing things, getting into a practice mindset. A growth mindset can do wonders for us understanding the process of what we're doing and embracing it. That's a huge thing. Here is we have high expectations and these standards of perfection, which prevent us from creating and realizing the growth process, which is.

[00:27:55] Really riddled with mistakes and not knowing. And confusion until we gain clarity and move through those stages. To gain mastery over what we're doing. It's a very beautiful and fulfilling process, but in the early stages, it can be very painful. If we don't understand the process itself. So with that being said, y'all.

[00:28:17] I'm going to go ahead and wrap the episode. I'm excited about some of the other episodes I've got planned coming up. As I mentioned last week, I launched a men's coaching practice, helping men find fulfillment, purpose, and potential. There's a lot of men that struggle today, I think with self-worth.

[00:28:33] Fulfillment in their life, even if they're financially successful. Or having a successful career quote unquote. Without that inner nurturing. Without that connection to ourselves life can sometimes feel like a prison we've created for ourselves and we can feel isolated and lonely even though would think or appear that we are doing well or feeling well.

[00:28:55] Sometimes appearances just, aren't always what they seem to be. So if you're looking for some help, you can hit me up on my website. Brandon Lee ward.com. You can also hit me up on Twitter at Brandon Lee ward. I'm also on LinkedIn as well. Brandon L. Ward over there is my profile. So anyway,

[00:29:13] Hopefully y'all having a good week. We're almost in 2023. So hopefully you will have a happy new year. I won't see you. Until 2023, so happy new year y'all and I'll catch you in 2023.

[00:29:27] Thank you for listening to Order Within. If you found the episode helpful, please consider sharing, rating and subscribing. New episodes will be released every Thursday at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard time. Until next time y'all.