More than a consumer...

WE’RE ALL MORE THAN JUST PASSIVE CONSUMERS.

So much communication is one-way (media, teaching, sermons). We’ve been conditioned to sit and be talked to, to sit and consume words on pages and screens, to sit and watch stories acted out. Recently, when going through The Artist’s Way (for the third time) I realized my addiction to word consumption. In her book, Julia Cameron poses a challenge on Week Four: “Fast other people’s words for one week.” (Shock. Horror!) I decidedly skipped that challenge. To take it would mean giving up morning books and coffee in my bird-chair, listening to podcasts while cooking dinner, taking online courses, watching TV and movies... No way! Basically, I realized I’m in constant consumption of one-way words.

I'm thankful for people who put their words together in meaningful ways and serve them to us as feasts. Most independent filmmakers work on ONE move for SEVEN years. They've focused and honed their story before any of us see it. Books are the same way. (Internet "content" is another thing, entirely....but that's another talk altogether.) The point is, word feasts (whether lobster dinners or more Taco Bell-esq) are costly to the ones serving them up. We've all had the experience of taking hours to prepare a lavish meal, only to sit down to eat and be done in 10 minutes flat. Maybe I should be more mindful about my consumption.

Speaking of being mindful, I recently heard a talk by a man named Mike McHargue, the contents of which I cannot recall but his opening remarks stayed with me. As he took the stage the host gave a very eloquent and honoring introduction expounding his accolades and education. Mike took the mic and did something I’ve never seen before, (and I am a self-proclaimed professional and life-long sermon/lecture-listener…10,000 hours? Pshhh!). Instead of immediately orating, riding the wave of legitimacy and honor just given him, he instead invited us to bring to our attention to the setting, to the physical conditions and social cues surrounding that specific moment. He was on a tall stage and our chairs were facing him. He was standing and we were sitting. Lights were shining on him, while we were sitting in darkness. Only his voice was amplified though a microphone and his name and pedigree had been publicly announced while we remained unknown. After highlighting those cues he asked we thought that if, left unchecked, they might lull us into passive consumption of his words? Did this set up point us toward his authority and superiority? Before he continued, he asked that we look past the cues, turn ON our brains, and think about what we were hearing. He asked us to form opinions on the matters discussed...question, wrestle, be inspired - or not.

Mr McHargue's talk was definitely a steak dinner. Learning to stay away from gobbling up Taco Bell everyday, that's a step forward. Learning to listen with discerning, mindful ears, thats one more. What's the next step away from passive consumption? I think it's to cook my own meal.

Woah.

To do that will require all my concentration and clarity of mind. To put together concise and clear words - that's passive consumption's opposite.

Challenge accepted.

“Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything. … It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.”

—Enid Bagnold