An inspiring sign recently prompted some thought about the positive impact of creative endeavours as opposed to passive consumption. Each of us can choose to create or consume. Which side are you on? 

Welcome to the 117^th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a simple living challenge for the week. Along with thoughts on creativity, this week’s edition discusses foods that protect us from microplastics, a new YouTube channel to educate kids about climate change, and degrowth as an alternative to consumption.  

On my mind this week: Would you rather create or consume?

Every Saturday, in her Photos of the Week blog post, Wynne Leon includes a picture of a thought-provoking quote on a sign at a local Village Market. A couple of weeks ago, the sign featured this quote:

Humans were designed to create. That is why you get depressed when all you do is consume.

This made me think about the importance of creativity in its various forms. I’d never really given much thought to creativity as the opposite of consumption, but it makes a lot of sense.

My creative outlets are singing, writing, and creating content for my retirement coaching business. But creativity takes many forms. For you, it might be cooking, crafting, making videos, photography, painting, drawing, gardening, or anything else that shares a little bit of you with the world. The possibilities are endless!

When I’m not creating, I feel like something is missing. During the pandemic, not being able to sing with others left a huge void in my life—a void I filled with lots of writing.

Shifting from consumption to creation

There’s a saying that life is not a spectator sport. In his book, Things That Matter, Joshua Becker identifies technology as a distraction that gets in the way of achieving important things in life. He points out that we spend much of our time online passively consuming content created by others.

Creators need an audience, so I’m not suggesting you stop consuming the creative works of others. But shifting from consuming to creating—from taking to giving—can boost our quality of life. I’ve noticed that creators have a growth mindset and an abundance of curiosity. And Psychology Today reports creative activities improve our mood, add meaning to our lives, and can improve our social interactions.

Becker challenges readers to use their online time to create rather than consume. The shift can be as simple as liking, commenting and sharing the work of others. Or you can challenge yourself to create something of your own and share it. It might just ignite a new passion.

I told Wynne I’d love to meet the “creator” behind the quotes on the Village Market sign to find out where they get their ideas. Brilliance!

What about you? Would you rather create or consume? Drop a comment below with your thoughts—and feel free to share your creative endeavours.

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• On Monday, I went for sushi lunch with a couple of former co-workers. It was terrific to catch up and share stories.
• My creative side has received a boost as I’ve found a new band to jam with. We’re playing newer (post 2000) punk and alternative rock music that’s new to me, so I’ve been enjoying the challenge of learning new songs.
• A cute little baby bunny has made an appearance in our garden this week. On Saturday afternoon, he played in the grass for hours.

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:

Foods that protect from microplastics

Microplastics have been linked to serious health concerns. New research shows certain foods can provide protection against the harmful effects of these tiny plastic particles.

Scientists have discovered that eating foods high in antioxidants can counteract some of the harmful effects of microplastics. A specific group of antioxidants, anthocyanins, appear particularly promising. Anthocyanins are responsible for the vibrant colour of fruits and vegetables like blueberries, red cabbage, raspberries and blackberries.

So load up on leafy greens, berries, nuts and cruciferous vegetables.

(Source: Happy Eco News)

YouTube channel educates kids about climate change

Teaching kids about climate change and environmental issues can be a challenge. A new YouTube Channel, Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick & Sprout, aims to educate kids (and parents) on climate change through fun videos.

Hicks, and her puppet friend Sprout the sunflower, explain things like greenhouse gases, fossil fuels, and renewable energy in short, entertaining videos targeted kids in the 5 to 10 age range. The YouTube channel is complemented by curriculum, activities and lesson plans to help adults approach climate change with their kids.

(Source: Happy Eco News)

Degrowth as an alternative to growing consumption

I’ve been hearing a lot about degrowth lately and I admit I’m intrigued. Simply put, degrowth is a different way to measure the success and wellbeing of a nation’s economy.

Increased output and consumption, as measured by GDP (gross domestic product), has long been accepted as the measure of a country’s economic success. But, as it becomes increasingly obvious that the Earth cannot sustain continued growth, experts are looking at different ways to evaluate success.

One option is the OECD Better Life Index, which considers factors like health, the environment and work-life balance.

As you can imagine, any suggestion of degrowth is met with opposition from the usual suspects. Even so, I believe any conversation that takes a broader—more human—view of success is worthwhile and necessary.

(Source: CBC News – What on Earth)

This week’s simple living challenge – Adopt the one-in one-out rule

Simplifying life is a big part of living more intentionally. With that in mind, I kicked off the year with 52 ways to simplify your life this year, including a downloadable checklist of weekly tasks.

This week’s challenge is to contain clutter by adopting the one-in one-out rule. Even better, why not step things up with the one-in two-out rule?

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I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.