Figuring Out What Works: Creating Stuff Makes Me Feel Better About Life, Consuming Stuff Makes Me Feel Like a Zombie

Did you ever notice you tend to feel better while you’re getting work done? Energetic after you’ve exercised? Accomplished once you’ve done some yard work?

It should be the other way around, right? I mean, if you burn a bunch of energy exercising, shouldn’t you feel less energetic?

And you’d think being lazy and slouching on the couch all day would feel awesome. For a short while, it does. But if I do it too long, I end up feeling weak and frustrated.

For instance, these days, I feel empty after I’ve beaten a modern video game. The experience feels hollow, like I haven’t actually added anything to the world. I’m left feeling like I wasted the precious time I had left on this Earth.

But building something? Writing something? It’s invigorating.

Don’t get me wrong, I love video games more than most people, but I’ve had my fair share of epic digital adventures.

I think humans have this deep inner need to contribute to society. We get sick of just being consumers. If we starve our creative spirit long enough, it can catch up to us, demanding to be fed.

Vegging out and watching movies has its place. We all need input, be it through books, movies, etc., especially at a young age.

One day, the Law of Diminishing Returns (LoDR) sets in, and by my calculation, it seems to set in at around the age of forty. (I also noticed the LoDR kicked in for TV shows and movies after I’d watched about 2,000 of them (total combined). I guess this goes right back to Getting It Out of Your System.)

I started feeling like I’d seen all the standard plot structures and cliches, and even most of the tricks and gimmicks. It got to a point where I could recognize plot structures and story setups from a mile away. (I admit, part of this came from me learning to write.)

And then, when it felt like I’d consumed enough for three lifetimes, I got this unshakeable feeling that it’s my turn now.

Maybe this is a calling not everyone receives, but I know for a fact that most people wish they’d written a book at some point in their life, myself notwithstanding.

And who knows? I might just have something important to share with the world after all, a blind spot previous generations couldn’t see that births something new, something the likes of which they couldn’t have possibly created.

This accomplished feeling that creating and being productive gives me is yet another “something” that works. If I’m ever in a bad mood and find myself lashing out, that’s a sure sign it’s time to get productive, a guaranteed cure for my crankiness.