Rationale Behind the Practice

I feel the need to make my own content for many reasons. It's important to note that I consume a lot of content now, as do most of my friends. This might seem like shorthand for "I live and experience things," but there are substantial differences between what I can read, see and listen to now compared to the most prolific consumer of ideas even 20 years ago. While I probably read fewer books than I would have in the 80s, say (more on this later), I'm able to consume online news articles, video punditry, and the like at a rate and from a range of views that might have been physically impossible then. The real difference maker, however, the paradigm shift, comes from plugging into podcasts. I listen to podcasts at 2x speed, and while I have to worry about distractions in some cases, I can have them on in the background in a way that doesn't translate to other media. A two hour bike ride now translates to four hours of pre-edited, highly topical content from some of the best thinkers in the world, and an equally good workout.

I say this primarily as I'm going to make a lot of references to this consumed content in my blog. It's hard to touch on any of the reasons that I took up this practice without that background. A friend assumed this initiative must owe a lot to Seth Godin and his podcast Akimbo, and he's probably right (Seth suggests it in as many words), although that's not what I was thinking about at first. If I had to guess, the proximal cause is Tyler Cowen's excellent "Conversations with Tyler". Tyler's quickly become one of the most interesting people I've ever listened to - easily one of the most well-read and articulate. People I respect absolutely swear by his blog "Marginal Revolution" and he's another who encourages the act of daily creation, if only to form the habit.

Tyler also focuses on asking his very eclectic and talented guests about their "production function" - all the habits that have allowed them to excel. I was listening to the year in review podcast on the drive back from the holidays, and I was inspired by many of the writers. Be sure that I'll be exploring some of their habits in the context of my own New Year's resolutions on the blog.

There's one more reason that I started to create content, though. One more recurring theme to introduce. I was listening to Joni Mitchell on a plane over the holidays. I adore Joni Mitchell. I thought "Why can so few artists even approach this level of lyricism? Could I ever write as well and inspired as that?" I mean, I can't touch the sun, but if it the whole enterprise needed a spark, it's as good as any.