H
umans have evolved unlike every other species on this planet. The word 'Homosapiens' comes from a Latin word which means 'wise man', and it still inherently fits on our primate ancestors as they slowly gained the ability to adapt with nature and learned to invent essential tools and weapons for hunting and farming, discovered fire, the purpose of wheels and learned to draw; which truly makes them wise. Along with learning the tactics and strategies necessary for survival, they kept passing on their skills to their offsprings. In other words, they were improving the way of living by buliding more and more skills - which years after years evolved into something which we are today - 'human beings'. A more wiser, intelligent and fast-learning creature in the history of the Earth. A better version of our ancestors. Their development was important for our existence.
We all are citizens of 21st century, living in a more developed and less life-threatning condition than our ancestors was in. Now, there is no need to go for a hunt in the woods. Why would someone do that if he has got a gas stove in his kitchen. No one will. All the credit goes to the technology we are surrounded with. It has moulded us from every possible directions and transformed our habits. It affects what we think, what we do, what we consume and what we produce.
It depends on what you mean by 'consumption'. On one side, learning the things you are always passionate about is the best investment of time and energy whereas surfing endlessly and aimlessly social media without any beneficial returns is what we can call a consumption of time and data. Here both the terms - consumption and investment - should not be confused with each other as their meanings are poles apart. The word 'consumption' refers that you are using something up or exhausting it with a momentary or no return at all. But, 'investment' means that you are expecting some kind of return in the long run. Investment is calculated in terms of getting engaged with the activities that could bring you some meaningful rewards.
Humans has the innate desire to create something. People want to add value to the world. Hence, we all are some kind of creators now. Some are writers, photographers, painters, musicians, singers. Some people make cool things with their hands. But in order to create something, we must also consume something and there isn't anything wrong with consumption. In fact, we must eat food and drink water and purchase hygienic products like lights and furniture for our homes. Anything that brings us joy and contentment without overutilizing the empty space.
Right after the Industrial Revolution, companies and corporations found themselves in a terrific situation. They found that the demand was over-shadow supplying. People were not consuming at the rate they were supposed to consume. So they were being told to buy more stuffs via various ads and talking heads to keep the equation balanced. And I think, even today, we are still trapped in this consumeristic illusion.
Okay! That was a collective talk. But speaking at an individual level, for most of us, that void is not related with a need of consumption; in fact, the opposite is true: when we consume too much, we start experiencing stress, anxiety and depression and hence taking away the vibrancy and freedom of life. Our possessions mentally, physically and emotionally weigh us down, which makes the void cavernous and it becomes pretty hard to release that weight over time.
In order to break the ice and attain maximum freedom of life, we must realize that the void is on the other side of the equation and the void we feel is actually a creative one. You see, its the emptiness inside the earthen-pot that makes it so valuable. We are so caught up in a consumeristic state of mind that we almost forget our innate desire to create. If we truly want to move the needle of contentment, we must invest our time in creating more and consuming less - if we invest our time in creating, we will automatically spend less time in consuming. And its the only solution to resolve our issues regarding compulsory comsumption and mindless self-indulgence.
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Tagged: Decision Making • Thinking