Episode #12- Consuming vs Creating

This episode talks about the types of negative consuming we are prone to, especially with the current circumstances in the world.  And why we do it.

I discuss how creating is a great thing we can do for ourselves, our health, and for those around us. 

 

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This is Betsy Jensen, and you are listening to Unstoppable Body and Mind—Episode 12–Consuming vs Creating.

 

In this podcast we learn to upgrade our brain and understand the power of our thoughts, to heal and to create the results we want in our life. Become the person in control of your healing and make peace with your life.  Become unstoppable, body and mind.

 

Hello, today we are going to talk about consuming vs creating. I think this is especially important right now as a lot of us, with what's going on in the news and uncertainty, are spending a lot of time consuming information versus using our brains to produce or create. Consuming is an action of taking things in. It's more passive. It's easier for your brain because your brain doesn't have to learn anything new or rewire any neural pathways. So it's very energy efficient, and our brain likes to conserve energy. 

 

On the other hand, creating requires energy. Your brain might be having to problem solve or do things it's not very comfortable or good at. And there's always safety in consuming vs creating. When we're consuming, we're not exposing any parts of ourselves, we're not having to be vulnerable. But sometimes with creating, there's a chance that people might not like what we create or not think it's good enough. So there are a couple of reasons why our brain would rather consume than create if we think of how our brains evolved. 

 

In primitive societies, survival was so important, and consuming was a really important part of staying alive, you had to get sustenance, but their lives were naturally quite balanced between consuming and creating. If anything, they might have had to create more than they consumed. They had to work to go out and find food. And when they ate a berry, they would get a hit of dopamine and they would get this reward. But today in our society, we've taken all those berries and mashed them down into this concentrated juice. So we have so much more sugar available, and we just go to the store and buy it. And we don't have to work for it. 

 

There are so many sources of this concentrated pleasure—these intense hits of dopamine that we get, and it could be from types of foods, or it could be from getting likes on social media, or it could be from shopping. Or think about pornography, someone could easily have this fantasy sexual experience without having to meet anyone in person, go on any dates, expend any energy or any money with trying to get that person to like them. But virtually all of this is just created, and they're getting this intense dopamine hit and this pleasure from very little work or creation. 

 

If we think about what most of us were taught about weight control and how to take care of our bodies, we kind of get intuitively this dynamic between consuming and creating. So if we're consuming a lot of food and not creating or moving, then we will have an imbalance—our body won't run efficiently. A comedian I heard say, “You show your work, right?” You start to have extra weight, put on extra pounds, your body stores that extra energy in the form of fat. And that can really be hard to remove, you have to either decrease your consumption or increase your production or creativity or movement. 

 

I was talking to one of my yoga teachers about this. And we were talking about how people just need to add in movement more in their day. And she was talking about how if she's watching TV, she would get up and dance during the commercials. First of all, I thought, What is she watching that she's still watching commercials? And I also thought, This does take planning and energy, you have to make a conscious decision to do something that is not just passive for your brain. 

 

It's important to remember that consuming in itself isn't bad, right? Like we have to have some input of food. But it's when there's not a balance that we get into problems. And when we're using food as an escape from our daily life, the kinds of foods that we're generally kind of buffering with or trying to escape with are not nutrient-dense, low-calorie, high-vitamin foods, they're usually sugary foods, things that are very concentrated, things that are made to give us this instant hit of dopamine and then almost crash later. So it's very easy to over consume those. Maybe for you, food is not the way you try to escape your life or overconsume. Other examples of ways that people commonly consume would be drinking, or smoking, or shopping, or Facebooking or overworking. People might try to overconsume with information. And that sometimes can have negative effects as well. 

 

So again, some consumption may be good and healthy: you might listen to some inspiring podcasts, or listen to some instructive books. But if all you're doing is passively consuming information, the results in your life are still not going to be what you want them to be. If you're not doing that other part, which is creating over consuming tends to keep us stuck in the same place. So if you're noticing ways of trying to escape your life, that overall are having some negative effects, you're probably consuming more than you're creating something that commonly happens when we Feel that we're out of balance is that then we start to shame ourselves. So we know that we've eaten too much food, and that it's not going to feel good in our body, and it may increase our weight. And we didn't want that. So we start to shame ourselves, which actually triggers the reward center in our brain. And so shame can also have this almost addictive quality, because we're getting so much reinforcement from it. 

 

I was trying to think of all the different forms of consuming, not just physically evident ones. And I thought of judgment. I think that judging other people is a form of consumption. There was a comedian I heard talking about the Olympics and how we all become these armchair experts of how people's form could have been a little bit better. Oh, I totally would have pointed my toes and Oh, I would have stuck that landing. But in reality, these people have put in hours and hours of blood and sweat and tears to get to this level of caliber, and they've created this thing that we're watching, and then passively consuming and judging, without any energy expended on our part. We can sit there and be critical without having to expend any energy. We've probably all sat in meetings where people are judgmental or critical of a problem and talk and talk and talk about how bad this is or what needs to change, but not really giving any solutions of how to change it. It's annoying, right? Judgy people are the worst (irony intended)! 

 

One of the biggest examples I can think of right now is the overconsumption of TV and media information related to the Coronavirus. When our brain starts to perceive that we're in danger, we go into this fight or flight response where we're hyper focused and hyper vigilant and we want to be on the lookout for anything that could potentially cause us harm and protect ourselves from it. And definitely, people who are producing this kind of news for us around the clock know this and they actually make money, the more we are watching or the more we are clicking or the more we're obsessed with finding out what could potentially be happening. And so they're packaging this information to us in ways that are very compelling and seem very necessary. 

 

And it's just like the people who are making berries into juice to make it more appealing to us to consume and we get more dopamine from it. We're actually getting rewarded in our brains for finding those reasons to be scared. I've talked to people and heard people coached, who really feel like the more they are educated on the statistics and how many people have died and the world count numbers, the more they are keeping themselves safe. 

 

But I want to offer that when we are stressing our bodies out and our minds are in this fight or flight response, we're actually more susceptible to illness, more likely to tax ourselves excessively. And this has a greater impact on our health in a negative way. Our brains feel like it's really important and necessary to be checking these numbers obsessively, or to find out more information. Because the unknown is a very difficult place for our brain to be. 

 

There was a study where people were playing a video game, and some of them would receive intermittent shocks, and some would receive shocks in predictable ways. And they knew that they were going to get shocked and the group that received the predictable shocks, even though they were still receiving shocks, had a lower level of stress than the people who had no idea when the shocks were coming. 

 

And we're living in this uncertainty. But when we're in fight or flight, we have an increase in the stress hormone cortisol, which we know decreases immunity and increases inflammation. We're more susceptible to other unhealthy buffering behaviors, whether it's overeating or over drinking or other ways of escaping. We tend to buffer with the kinds of foods that are less healthy, and sugar decreases our immunity. We spend a lot of time filtering out the evidence subconsciously, but only looking for the things that reinforce our belief. And the worry, rather than looking for any evidence that might be to the contrary, we'll totally dismiss that. I think a lot of us tend to slip into judgment and shame of ourselves for what we're doing or not doing. We have all these other things to do but we find ourselves obsessively checking information that doesn't seem to be leading to anything but feels so necessary. And, of course, the judgment of other people. Other people are taking it too seriously or not taking it seriously enough. We're putting a lot of our effort into judging things that we have no control over, like other people. And this stress and anxiety feels so important. 

 

But what I want to suggest is that we are fearing something that's in the future so much, that even though that negative consequence, the worst case scenario, hasn't happened yet, we're essentially living those same emotions right now as if it had. So we're sacrificing our present moment, any kind of peace or happiness in the present because of these thoughts were having about the future. So try to think about where you are right now. Do you have shelter? Do you have food? Do you have toilet paper for now? Don't go to that future place of what could happen, but look for, in the present circumstances, what you do have and what you can be grateful for. 

 

This takes energy from your brain, it's a conscious choice of the way that you're thinking. So this is creating versus consuming. And I think that creating, although it does take more energy, is one of the best ways to get out of this cycle of fear and anxiety. I listened to a great podcast by Rachel Hart, who is another life coach who works with people who over drink. And she was talking about creating fun, versus consuming fun. And she said, most of us as adults expect that things should be fun. And if they aren't inherently fun, then we can take this substance that's very easy to consume, we can take a drink, and all of a sudden we feel a little more social or we feel like what we're doing that's mundane is a little more fun. And our brain gets used to expecting these things to be easy and fun. And it can be really hard to even imagine going to a social gathering without a drink because our brain has gotten so used to taking this easy way. Now creating fun does take more energy. But I want to offer that it's also more rewarding and doesn't have those negative effects that you get when you're just consuming. 

 

Especially right now when people seem hyper focused, and wanting to consume information, having that creativity can actually help distract your brain from what's going on, and calm that fight or flight response, which ultimately is going to be better for your health. I've talked to many adults who don't know how to create fun—we've lost that skill. We have so many things that we should be doing, so many things that would be more productive if we did, and taking time for creativity almost seems indulgent, like we just don't have time to do it. But I think now more than ever is a time that we need to turn towards our own creative power. And start creating or producing things in the world. I've seen several funny memes or videos or songs that people have produced that have really helped a lot of other people laugh and smile or put things into perspective. And I think that is really necessary for our society as a whole right now. So think for yourself of ways that you could create. Now it doesn't have to be something that you're sharing with the world or trying to do to make the world a better place. I think that just the act of creating is going to make a world of difference, though, in your environment and the people who are around you.

 

Try to think of something that brings you joy. As adults, we usually have a really hard time doing this because we're thinking about the past or we're thinking about the future and not really thinking about what in the present we could do. I've heard people say it almost feels irresponsible to not be worrying about the past or not be concerned or fearful about the future and just knowing that taking time in the present moment is an option for you. You don't have to be worried. In fact, that's probably more counterproductive than it is helpful. As Dan Zadra said, “Worry is a misuse of the imagination.” 

 

If you're having a hard time trying to identify what might bring you joy, or what you could create, maybe go back to the activities you did as a kid. Were you interested in writing or music or singing? Or dancing, moving your body, getting outside? Before you had the abilities to buffer and all of the weight of the world on your shoulders, what kinds of activities did you naturally gravitate to? Write a list of things that bring you joy. I wrote a list last year and things on it included making jewelry, fingernail polish, sitting in the sun, listening to good podcasts or audiobooks, yoga, dance, which you can do a lot of these things online right now—they're offered for free. There's a lot of live streaming. Hearing a child's laugh brings me joy. Having a clean room or a clean car brings me joy. So although the act of cleaning up my room might not be something that is inherently joyful and fun, it produces a result that does bring me joy. Consistency with achieving goals or accomplishing a new skill brings me joy. And watching funny movies brings me joy. And remember, joy is an emotion. So these circumstances are not just bringing me joy. It's my thoughts about the circumstances that create joyful feelings. So really, the joy originates from what I'm thinking about things or how I'm thinking about them. 

 

There are other things on the list—some of them I cannot do right now because of social distancing. But this is a time we can get creative. We don't have to be victimized by the things we're not able to do. Remember, the feeling of victimization is also an emotion. So that comes from our thoughts. This is a time that many people have gotten creative. There are lots of resources available online that weren't available just last month. Many of us are finding ourselves with some extra time, these couple of weeks where all of the social things in the evenings and the sporting events have been canceled, and maybe even your work has been canceled and you’re home. So what about using this time to develop a new skill to become stronger? Maybe you can look back at this time in your life as the time you did stop drinking or smoking, or you changed your eating habits, you got into shape, you worked on yourself. Most people say, “Well, I just don't have time to work on myself or to read good books or to clean out the closet.” But what a gift right now!  We just have to use this time consciously and not go into a consuming, stressful state, but start to expand our mind on how we can create. Think about ways that you could provide value to the world. 

 

Some people are using this time to create their businesses or modify their businesses. And I would just say for your creation to be the most effective, you want to have an energy behind it. The feeling you want to be feeling is more a feeling of abundance than scarcity. So if you're feeling like everything is depending on you getting this business going, you're probably coming from a place of scarcity and the actions you take when you're coming from scarcity usually are not your best decisions. You're not your most creative, and you're coming from this place of neediness and then to others you come off as kind of creepy or desperate. So really notice the emotions you're having. When you're creating, are you putting a lot of pressure on yourself? Are you critical of yourself? Or are you creating with a sense of joy, and peace and calm? I'm not saying this is easy. Remember, I said at the beginning, your brain wants to avoid creating things because it does take more energy. 

 

So be compassionate with yourself at this time. Start to notice what you're doing in your day-to-day life. Are you consuming things that have a negative effect? And how could you start to create more? If you're struggling with this topic or any other things that you would like coaching on right now, I'm doing some free coaching. To reach out to me for coaching or questions or comments, you can email me at info@bodyandmindlifecoach.com. My email will also be in the show notes.

 

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you learned a little bit about your brain today that helps you in your life like it helped me. Please be sure and subscribe and leave a review. And, of course, be sure and share this podcast with someone you know who wants an unstoppable body and mind.