Creation Versus Consumption for Success and Happiness
It could almost be a Law of Nature. Perhaps it is. A universal human experience is there’s greater fulfillment and happiness when you create more than you consume.
It can be easy to confuse passion and purpose, or passion versus purpose. Some are passionate about donuts or the latest epic Mulan, but in most cases those are strong desires over passions.
Passion, as it is most often used today, connotes purpose, and while we may be an avid chocolate fan, or savor buttered popcorn with a good movie, those are the temporal pleasures of desires.
What’s the Difference Between Passion and Desire?
The primary difference between passion and desire? Consumption.
For creators, it’s important to ponder the concept of creation versus consumption, and to create more than you consume.
Passion and purpose are about creation and contribution… about energy flowing outward through the medium of that passion. Desire is about consumption over creation; about energy flowing to our lower centers.
The lower centers are like a vortex of energy that swirls around between desires, emotions and attitudes. It requires effort, exercise and creation to break the pull of the gravity of consumption and rise more fully into our creative centers.
Consumption has its time and place in survival and pleasure, as does desire, but it is the lower form that is only ever temporarily satiated. Goal setting and future visioning are about long term commitment for the greatest success and fulfillment. To bring your dreams to life requires you to be in it for the long haul. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
A truly fulfilling life for creators requires you to create more than you consume.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
This Steven Pressfield quote addresses this beautifully.
“In other words, any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower. Any of these will elicit Resistance.”
SOURCE: The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield
~Steven Pressfield, fiction & non-fiction author, b.9/1943
Create More, Consume Less
The Path to Peace, Prosperity and Purpose
Passion and pursuit of purpose through creation is energizing, elevating and renewing. The more we create in alignment with our perceived or conceived purpose to date, the less inclined are we toward consumption, and the more we are inclined toward joy and generosity.
It’s the same with physical exercise. Scientifically proven to actually reduce appetite, exercise is an outflow of energy that strengthens us while creating more energy than it takes. Movement returns more energy than it consumes. Same for creativity.
Just five minutes of exercise can transform an entire hour or two or three. An hour of movement can transform the day, the night, our bodies, health and our attitudes. There are few things that give such a huge return on investment – ROI – for the time invested.
Same thing with creativity. Creativity cultivates and elevates energy. And… it’s free. No sugar rush and subsequent crash, no regret or “I shouldn’t have”. Rather, creating brings pleasure and pride, and humility when we fail, and creativity brings satisfaction and nurtures purpose.
Creation over consumption fosters contentment. Consumption over creation fuels discontent. Create more.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Some of Our Favorite Treats to Consume and Enjoy
Remember, we’re not saying not to enjoy treats and recreation. Rather, we’re simply saying that your life and creativity will be enhanced when you create more than you consume.
We enjoy treats like anybody, and love movies, including Mulan and Avatar, (a couple of my favorites). Treats include occasional indulgences like — in no particular order — nachos, organic dark chocolates and organic wine (reds are my favorites). Other treats include tiramisu cake or cheesecake for birthdays and the occasional homemade chocolate chip cookies. Holiday treats include Cella’s dark chocolate covered cherries and locally made key lime ice cream and also peppermint ice cream. Oh, and popcorn, of course, using a microwave popper for crispy perfection made with organic popcorn topped with organic butter and sea salt.
So that’s a long list and could be even longer, for the never-ending list of desires sprout like weeds in the garden. However, half of the treats on that long list are mostly once-a-year kinds of indulgences rather than a daily way of life.
So enjoy your treats, but don’t get addicted to them. Get addicted to good daily habits instead, and create more than you consume. Become obsessed with your success instead of your cravings, and desirous dalliances, for their “affection” is fleeting, and fraught with foibles that leave us empty.
Imbue your time with productive creative endeavors, and your soul will be fed, and will in turn, feed you.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Become Obsessed With Creation Vs Consumption
Obsessive people are more likely to be successful, because of the mental focus obsession augments. Never underestimate the power of focus to achieve more than you thought possible. But far more than that, to feel better about yourself and your life… to feel more on purpose. Enthusiasm and passion naturally accompany intense focus, for what you focus on is what grows in your life.
To be obsessed with consumption is to deplete your energy, creativity and time. Instead, become obsessed with conscious creation. Do not waste your precious life resources on the battlefield of desire. Aspire to create positivity and momentum, and watch the transmutation of your desires and the transformation of your life.
“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.”
~Frances Willard, educator, temperance reformer, suffragist, 1839-1898
We’ve added lots more Pressfield gems in this article to help you slay the resistance and inspire creation over consumption.
If you create and exercise each day, you will multiply your energy, your health and your life, and that’s a big deal.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Movement Inspires Creativity
Be sure to watch this delightfully uplifting and creative video shared with us by iCreateDaily community member, and long time friend, Jenny Eshed, an artist living in Israel. Inspiration in under 2 minutes! It was perfectly timed as Jenny sent it to me shortly after writing the paragraphs above. Love serendipity and synchronicity!
Top feature Image by SplitShire from Pixabay
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Hello! I’m LeAura, owner and co-creator of iCreateDaily.com®. As an autodidactic philosopher, generalist, personal development advocate, entrepreneur, writer, editor, author, ideator, media publisher, and podcaster, I’m passionate about helping others achieve their best possible life! Our small family of entrepreneurs, writers, investors, educators and creators own and run websites around topics we enjoy, such as gardening, health and fitness, creativity and pets, with more to come.
While my greatest teacher is Life… my formal training includes certifications in mediation, fitness, and strategic intervention coaching, including marriage and family. Today, the synergy of creating websites, articles and podcasts, brings together all my favorite things: family, learning, growth, creating, connecting and contributing. To share these with you is a privilege, that serves my lifelong aspiration to help others.
My personal areas of creativity are in writing, masterminding, ideation, synthesis and bringing ideas to life through business and entrepreneurship, all with a pervasive spiritual foundation with a focus on elevating the lives of others.
Want to submit your photos, videos and/or article content for publication? We love to consider your contribution for publication! creators@icreatedaily.com