Having attended a good number of youth group events and church camps as a kid, I’ve heard many versions of “be careful what you fill your mind with.” It usually centered on the “garbage in, garbage out” caution regarding rated R movies and hip-hop music.
I’ve realized lately that it’s not just about “bad stuff.” As I set my sights on launching a business to provide coaching and retreats, I did what people in 2019 do. I subscribed to a bunch of business podcasts. As a result, I started thinking about my “target audience” and working on my business plan. I have lists and spreadsheets and big goals broken into smaller goals.
All of that is well and good, but without meaning to, I’d removed the creative voices from my feed. I found myself struggling to create meaningful content and progress on my fiction and narrative projects was completely stalled.
After months on the library’s waiting list, I finally got my turn with Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. That led me to subscribe to her podcast which led me back to other creative input. And guess what? All of sudden my creative juices started flowing again. Writer’s block cured!
It’s tempting to go deep on something good, and not realize when it’s crowded out something essential. What “good stuff” competes for space in your feed?