Consume less, create more
How it's been going when it comes to one of my core intentions for 2024, plus New Beginnings, a Social Saturday, and a father & son at the gym.
“In order to invite any kind of guest, including creativity, you have to make room for it.”
- Alice Walker
At the beginning of this year, one of my core intentions was “consume less, create more.”
I knew that to free up time for my own creativity (which for me means writing + designing workshops & retreats), I needed to spend less time consuming (which for me means Twitter, YouTube, and sports).
How’s it been going? Pretty good. But consuming less in today’s world is HARD.
On social media, all of the content we see is shown to us by algorithms that know what we’re most likely to engage with better than we know ourselves.
Even if I manage to stay off social media and only consume books, articles, podcast episodes, and TV shows that people I know and trust recommend - there’s so much quality content out there! And sometimes, even if it comes highly recommended, to see if you like a book, you need to read a few chapters. To see if you like a show, you need to watch a few episodes. Next thing you know, even if the show is like The Perfect Couple and gives you anxiety, you need to watch until the end to see who the murderer is (don’t worry, no spoilers here).
I learn a lot from the content I consume. But I also learn a lot from the content, workshops, and retreats I create, and the reaction / feedback they receive.
I want to read, listen to, and watch all the good stuff that’s out there.
But what I want even more these days is the time and space to create my own content and experiences for others.
One simple way I’ve carved out that time that feels worth sharing:
Leaving my airpods at home and turning my phone on airplane mode when I’m in transit (walking, on the subway, etc.).
If I can go even 5 minutes with no inbound information (without listening to music, podcasts, or audiobooks, knowing that I won’t receive any notifications), my attention naturally turns to the world around me, as well as the thoughts & feelings inside me. It’s never long before I need to pull out my phone (which again, is on airplane mode so I don’t get distracted the second I look at it), open the Notes app or Otter AI to write or voice record ideas as they inevitably come up and crystallize.
At some point, if we want to become prolific creators, we need to place limits on how much we consume - no matter how interesting, high-quality, or even educational that consumption feels.
By consuming less, we create space for creativity to emerge and flow.
Fridays With Third Nature
October 4th | New Beginnings
It feels fitting that the week after last Friday’s Summer Reflections & Fall Intentions workshop, aka the first week of the 4th quarter of 2024, is Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year.
In other words, a great week for New Beginnings.
This Friday, October 4th, we’ll provide space for journaling and sharing in small groups, exploring questions like:
What has been growing within you that you’re ready to share with the world?
What / who do you want to welcome into your life in the last quarter of 2024?
What do you want to let go of to make space for what you truly want?
Where in your life could you use a fresh start?
Let’s start Q4 strong together :)
We’re still riding the high from Third Nature Summer Camp 2024
And cooking up big plans for Summer Camp 2025.
Loved That
Below are four of the countless things that made me say (out loud or in my head), an enthusiastic, LOVE THAT, in the last week.
1. Last Wednesday’s Third Nature Meetup at The Chai Spot in NYC. I especially loved reconnecting with so many people who, just a few weeks prior, were with us at Summer Camp. Conversations covered light topics like energy management, systemic disconnection and how to feel more connected in our modern world, ideas for Summer Camp 2025, and my personal favorite...aliens and outer space 👽
2. A Social Saturday, highlighted by my friend Frank’s 1-year old son’s birthday party (which had an awesome taco truck - I ate 5), and a fun night out with 3 of my friends from college (including dinner at K’Far in Williamsburg, where the grilled artichoke, crispy mushroom hummus, brick chicken, and lamb shank were all phenomenal).
3. Max, my new friend from AutoZone who hails from the Dominican Republic, who drilled my new license plate on the front of my car. I especially loved getting to connect around DR geography, and his amazement as I shared about my past adventures in his home country.
I love bonding with strangers - whether we see each other again or not, it feels good brightening up someone else’s day.
4. The father and son (must’ve been around 15 years old) working out together at Slope Fitness yesterday. They had the exact same hair - the kid’s was just way longer, covering his (probably-rolling-at-times) eyes. Without interacting with them directly, it felt like a really nice bonding moment between a patient dad and his rebellious kid.
As it says on the free t-shirt everyone gets when they join this gym:
Slope Fitness
It’s A Family Thing
Thanks for tuning in!
I’d love to hear from you - what did you love this past week?
Feel free to reply with any thoughts, feelings, questions, or ideas that came up as you were reading.
Wishing you a great week ahead!
With gratitude,
Brian & The TN Team