The balance between creation and commentary.
I'm becoming more and more aware of the difference between creation and commentary. Maybe that's something you've been noticing, too?
Today I watched this conversation between Carly Valancy and Sasha Chapin. I'd seen both of their names pop up on Substack here and there, but candidly didn't know much about who they were or what they did. Still, I'd clicked because of the headline.
Before listening, I'd at least put two and two together to realize that Sasha is married to Cate Hall, who's a writer I subscribe to and really admire.
Small world.
I'd hit play and turned to tackle the dishes waiting for me in the sink. The conversation was about mentorship. Almost immediately, I'd found myself nodding along. Specifically, they'd talked about the big scary act of reaching out to people you don't know. I... well, I'm historically bad at that. Their conversation was also about asking the universe (and the people within it) for audacious things—something else I'm working on.
I enjoyed hearing their perspectives. They each made interesting points about connecting with people who can help you take big swings in life.
All of it got me thinking.
I'd absentmindedly reached to dry my hands on a towel and clicked to their profiles on my phone to learn more about them. Turns out, Sasha is a very decorated journalist. Carly is a former broadway actor turned startup leader in tech. Naturally, I'd thought about subscribing to their newsletters. But that's where I'd asked myself "do I actually want more of this—are the topics they write about the kind of thing I want to think about regularly?"
In my opinion, the adage "you are what you eat" has never been more important.
These days, that mostly applies to media. Carly's thing is networking. She'd initially emailed Sasha to pitch him on becoming her mentor. He'd said yes. Sasha's area appeared to be self-improvement and personal development.
So I'd hesitated.
It's not that I'm not interested in that stuff—I am. What I'd forced myself to reckon with was honestly answering if this was the messaging I'd want to frequently ingest in my inbox. For a long time, I devoured self-help and how-to content. It's gotten me pretty far, I'd say.
Among the many therapeutic truths it forced me to face, that kind of stuff helped me get—and, so far, stay—sober. With the help of many of those resources, I was also able to design a system of recovering financially after my traumatic brain injury, too. But, recently, I'd realized that the self-help industrial complex had shifted into something that only seemed to keep me spinning my wheels. What's been most helpful in getting unstuck these days has been the choice to dive back into reading fiction and focusing on creating stories of my own. Pivoting away from ingesting commentary, and toward creative inspiration, has been tremendously valuable.
Still, at times, it's been hard to tell the difference.
Here's how I think about it...
If the only Stephen King book you'd ever read was On Writing, you'd probably think you gained a whole lot of context but, really, you'd only have become aware of syntax without substance, and nothing with which to use it.
These are the lines I think we've most blurred with the rise of social media. Expert input can be very useful. And, if commentary becomes the only stuff in circulation, maybe we'll have collectively lost the plot.
Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
103/365
Do you think about the media you consume? What do you do to filter it, if anything?
onward.
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