Written 2025-02-01
I recently came upon a video that told me something that I both already knew and desperately needed to hear: that I (and many others) desperately need to stop consuming and need to, instead, begin producing.
This applies to all kinds of consumption, not just internet media, but in my case specifically I think that creating media like this blog is the most appropriate way for me to begin intentionally producing more than I consume. While will no doubt still consume media, or in the case of literature try to consume more of it (one of my new year's resolutions), going forward I want to try to do so in a more reflective and productive way, for example by writing and publishing essays or analyses on works I've read.
Luke Smith wrote a great article back in 2020 with the same message. He describes the poetic worldview, from the Greek ποιητικός (poiētikós), meaning "capable of making, creative, productive." In this worldview, rooted in Christian, Hermetic, and Platonic teachings, the highest moral goal is creation. Going forward, I wish to live a more poetic life.
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10)
"In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury." (Proverbs 14:23)
"The other name of God is Father, again because He is the that-which-maketh-all. The part of father is to make." (Hermetic Corpus)