Now that we’ve explored what creation is, let’s explore why we should create.  And I said, “we.”  We are all creators, we all have a fundamental need to create.

Two weeks ago, we said creativity goes hand-in-hand with autonomy, mastery, and purpose.  Where there is autonomy, mastery, and purpose, you’ll find creativity.  Wherever there is creativity, you’ll also find autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Without autonomy, mastery, and purpose our lives become numb and grey.  In my finance career, I was following orders, doing repetitious tasks, and finding out that all of my efforts were pointless.  My life outside of work existed to recuperate from my life at work.  Life without autonomy, mastery, and purpose will eventually devolve into ennui and nihilism.

The natural reaction to this boredom is consuming.  When you finally have free time, you seek to fill that time.  You watch YouTube, scroll TikTok, or listen to a podcast until your next task or engagement.  You have fifteen minutes, you listen to a thirty-minute podcast at 2x.  You’re killing time.

In contrast, if you’re creating, you make time.  Creating is the main event that everything else revolves around and you prioritize your project over everything else.

Your relationship with time changes if you’re creating versus consuming.  

A meaningful life depends on creativity.  But with the way life is structured right now, it's easy to slip into consuming rather than creating.  How can we get into the habit of creation?

Quote of the Week:

“It isn't by getting out of the world that we become enlightened, but by getting into the world…by getting so tuned in that we can ride the waves of our existence and never get tossed because we become the waves.” - Ken Kesey

Something Fun:

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Visa ✈️ NYC (Feb22–Mar13) @visakanv

Some examples of my wife's improvisations over the years – she's fantastic at avoiding functional fixedness + seeing new ways of doing things hidden in plain sight. these are just the examples that I remembered to save for posterity

8:43 AM ∙ May 8, 2018

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You can find more of my writing at chr.iswong.com.

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Leaving you in peace,

Chris