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- Why everyone should be a "content creator"
Creativity and “content” has gotten nuanced. Suffice to say, it’s lost its way a bit…
How we define “content” today is very different. Perhaps 20-25 years ago, it was simply a publisher’s term. Citizen level “content” was simply captured memories or hobbies.
Content has been commoditized, and we forgot about its true essence.
But this lost trueness is why everyone should be a content creator…
Recently, I’ve been feeling nostalgic, taking a few too many trips down memory lane. I’ve been revisiting old songs, videos, artwork and writings.
Sometimes, my trips are from just one year ago.
Other times, it’s “content” from when I was a kid, before the term “content” even meant anything.
It’s amazing, if you truly let yourself get lost in it. Slowing down and reviewing who you were and your creations from the now — from this future point. It’s like curating your own mini museum. You’re the anthropologist and the culture at the same time.
But we (I) forgot that this simple act of capturing life has been distorted into business goals and the fervor of hopeful fame. But is that all that content is?
The simple fact that we can capture every small detail of this exact moment in life is perhaps the greatest innovation ever. And it’s been my new biggest reason for being a “content creator”.
If for nothing more than future nostalgia.
In this view, content is simply capturing your life, as memories. It’s like how we used to do things, with old cameras, stories and writings. Those old photos now live in dusty cedar chests that sit in corners of old attics..
Occasionally, we pull them out for review. It’s nostalgic. It’s fun. It’s human.
Now, the content we make today has a broader purpose and function, complete with publisher nuances and all.
And don’t get me wrong, I do love all the modern opportunities that content creation gives us. Everyone is a brand and everyone can build something great — while also paying the bills with it.
Turning yourself, your life, into content is a valid, rewarding career. That’s pretty sweet.
But I also love the idea of detaching content from the likes, the comments, the hearts and the engagements. Because it’s actually a digital cedar chest of memories that future you will enjoy some day.
And going even deeper, our content today could potentially be the artifacts of tomorrow. Digital archaeologists, thousands of years from now, will study us and try to decipher what it was like to live in such ancient times.
This perspective keeps me grounded. It motivates me and makes content creation less stressful and more…pure.
We never used to worry about perfection, best practices, trends or any of that. We captured life. And that was it. That was enough.
So that’s what I hope to get back to, at least in part.
Everyone should be a content creator, if only for the simple sake of having memories to review later on.
Nostalgic moments are life’s desserts. So it’s best to have something — anything — to savor later on.
And with that…later!
✌️
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