You’ll wake up this morning and know what’s waiting in your inbox.
Multiple emails featuring limited-time discounts, clever subject lines, and a reminder to buy something new. Today you’ll be overwhelmed with advertisements (over 5,000 of them), life hacks on how to be more efficient, trendy new diets, podcasts, Netflix shows, and the call to scroll-mindlessly—through your social feeds. Your day was engineered to consume.
You’re at the mercy of consumerism; the global religion that rises and falls with the stock market. And if you’re in the field of marketing, you know the weight of adding to the noise, more than anyone else.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Consumerism believes an ever-expanding consumption of goods is good for the economy. Inherently, we’re all consumers investing in places, things, and people that matter to us. When you measure what you consume against what you’re giving to the world—what do you see?
Are you scrolling endlessly? Do you prostitute your nights away to Netflix? Do you set your life clock around online sales for things that you don’t need?
It’s estimated that American adults spend more than 11 hours a day reading, watching, listening to, or interacting with media.
How you spend your time is how your life is spent.
In contrast to a life of drain and devour, my question to you is, “When was the last time you created something?” You weren’t poked or prodded or persuaded; you reacted in joy or heartbreak, and made something more valuable than the Amazon package on your doorstep.
You wrote something.
You played something.
You created something.
In a world blind to how much it consumes – I hope in the words ahead you find a new invitation; to create more than you consume.
Eric Brown
CO-FOUNDER, WHITEBOARD
WHAT IS GRAYSCALE?
A digital publication by Whiteboard helping you navigate the hidden tensions of our digital age.
When you measure what you consume against what you’re giving to the world—what do you see?
“
CONSIDER THIS:
“
In this state of total consumerism, we have forgotten how to provide all-meaningful contact between ourselves and the earth. We do not understand, and I think it’s the rule that people inevitably destroy what they do not understand.”
WENDELL BERRY
AMERICAN NOVELIST
Consumerism
& Scale
A cultural snapshot of how consumerism influences society.
EMBRACING TENSIONS
Consumerism and creativity are intrinsically at odds with one another.
Consumerism
Without intention—how much we consume becomes the silent killer of progress and imagination. Simple actions like scrolling for an hour, or three, compound to become days and years we’ll never get back.
TAKE TIME TO NOTICE:
How much time you’re giving to the screens in your life.
How digital consumerism distracts society from the issues that matter.
How your habits influence the people around you.
Creativity
With intention—creativity offers the chance to see the world with renewed perspective. To wonder, to play, to forgo anxiety. Creativity requires stamping a premium on your time. Ideas won’t happen unless you make time for them. The world won’t change unless we make it so.
MAKE SPACE TO:
Create more than you consume.
Put down your phone over dinner, and be present.
Form a daily ritual to make something with your hands.
CONSIDER THIS:
“Consumerism thrives on emotional voids.”
CAROLINE KNAPP
WRITER
IN CONCLUSION
Consumerism resists growth and progress.
Consumerism traps you in a world of screens, and enlists you to stay put.
To keep watching. To enslave your time. To steal your intention. If you’re going to defeat the efforts of consumerism, you must first take inventory of them. Additionally, you must also take inventory of your creative work. Author Ursula Le Guin said, “The creative adult is the child who survived.” Shake hands, and get reacquainted with the six-year old version of yourself. Better yet, fist bump or high five. Find the version of you that still holds innocence as a superpower, and uses imagination to create new worlds.
This kind of courageous creativity isn’t measured by followers.
It doesn’t mandate clicks, subscriptions, or an online course.
It doesn’t thrive on an addiction to media.
It gives—more than it takes. May you find that courageous creativity in yourself again.
Eric Brown
CO-FOUNDER, WHITEBOARD
In a world blind to consumption, I hope you find a new invitation—to create more than you consume.”
“
Continued Reading
Imagine a world without the stories of Pixar? Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration is one of my all-time favorite books on how to build a creative culture.
Buy the Book →
"But the only way to change culture is to create culture." This statement from Andy Crouch changed my relationship between creativity and consumerism.
Buy the Book →
Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport applies this idea to our personal technology. It's the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world.
Buy the Book →
Resistance (self-sabotage, procrastination, fear, arrogance, self-doubt) is inside you. I believe consumerism plays a massive role in the prevailing resistance that plagues us from doing our most important work. If you need a breakthrough in your creative battles this book can help.
Buy the Book →
LIBRARY
Exploring the nature of the internet and how to nurture its capacity for human flourishing.
01
Consumerism
Creativity
02
Cyberbullying
Netiquette
03
Algorithms
Personhood
04
Self-Image
Self-Care
05
Opinion
Action
06
Pornography
Intimacy
07
Attention Wars
Intention
08
Interruption
Focus
09
Soapboxes
Roundtables
10
Isolation
Community
11
Veneer
Authenticity
12
Greed
Generosity
13
Polarization
Unity
14
Distraction
Presence
15
Practice
Promotion
16
Echo Chambers
Curiosity
17
Hate
Tolerance
18
Lies
Truth
19
Bias
Impartiality
20
Noise
Signal
21
Vanity
Value
22
Depression
Hope
23
Anxiety
Peace
24
Cynicism
Belief
25
Tech-Addiction
Tech-Wise
LIBRARY
Exploring the nature of the internet and how to nurture its capacity for human flourishing.
01
Consumerism
Creativity
02
Cyberbullying
Netiquette
03
Algorithms
Personhood
04
Self-Image
Self-Care
05
Opinion
Action
06
Pornography
Intimacy
07
Attention Wars
Intention
08
Interruption
Focus
09
Soapboxes
Roundtables
10
Isolation
Community
11
Veneer
Authenticity
12
Greed
Generosity
13
Polarization
Unity
14
Distraction
Presence
15
Practice
Promotion
16
Echo Chambers
Curiosity
17
Hate
Tolerance
18
Lies
Truth
19
Bias
Impartiality
20
Noise
Signal
21
Vanity
Value
22
Depression
Hope
23
Anxiety
Peace
24
Cynicism
Belief
25
Tech-Addiction
Tech-Wise
LIBRARY
Exploring the nature of the internet and how to nurture its capacity for human flourishing.
01
Consumerism
Creativity
02
Cyberbullying
Netiquette
03
Algorithms
Personhood
04
Self-Image
Self-Care
05
Opinion
Action
06
Pornography
Intimacy
07
Attention Wars
Intention
08
Interruption
Focus
09
Soapboxes
Roundtables
10
Isolation
Community
11
Veneer
Authenticity
12
Greed
Generosity
13
Polarization
Unity
14
Distraction
Presence
15
Practice
Promotion
16
Echo Chambers
Curiosity
17
Hate
Tolerance
18
Lies
Truth
19
Bias
Impartiality
20
Noise
Signal
21
Vanity
Value
22
Depression
Hope
23
Anxiety
Peace
24
Cynicism
Belief
25
Tech-Addiction
Tech-Wise
01
Consumerism
Creativity
02
Cyberbullying
Netiquette
03
Algorithms
Personhood
04
Self-Image
Self-Care
05
Opinion
Action
06
Pornography
Intimacy
07
Attention Wars
Intention
08
Interruption
Focus
09
Soapboxes
Roundtables
10
Isolation
Community
11
Veneer
Authenticity
12
Greed
Generosity
13
Polarization
Unity
14
Distraction
Presence
15
Practice
Promotion
16
Echo Chambers
Curiosity
17
Hate
Tolerance
18
Lies
Truth
19
Bias
Impartiality
20
Noise
Signal
21
Vanity
Value
22
Depression
Hope
23
Anxiety
Peace
24
Cynicism
Belief
25
Tech-Addiction
Tech-Wise
