Creativity And The Drive To Create

Plastic bags and double-suspension gallops
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[00:00:00] Tyler: So Steve, you and I have both mentioned a couple of times on the podcast that we both have pet dogs.

[00:00:10] Steve: We do.

[00:00:10] Tyler: I think you've got a golden doodle, right? An older one.

[00:00:12] Steve: Golden doodle, that's right.

[00:00:14] Tyler: And I have just survived, uh, relatively recently, the puppy stage of owning a whippet, which is a sight hound that likes to run. And, uh,

[00:00:24] Steve: the puppy stage all it's cracked up to be? Because I adopted my golden

[00:00:28] Tyler: terrible? I don't know what you mean by

[00:00:31] Steve: I don't know, seven, eight years old. And well, some people like the puppy stage where, cause like you get to, you know, they're, they're cute. Puppies are

[00:00:38] Tyler: They're

[00:00:38] Steve: Uh, but you also have to train them and teach them how to go to the bathroom, not in your house and, uh, you know, all of, and deal with the puppy energy and all of that.

So.

[00:00:48] Tyler: Yeah,

[00:00:49] Steve: I don't know. I don't think I would super enjoy the puppy stage quite as much, but I'm curious.

[00:00:55] Tyler: well, the reason they're cute, I've decided, is that's how they survive, right? Probably similar to human babies, it's at a certain point, but, but because, yeah, it's a challenge. I mean, okay, so disclaimer, I am not a parent of human children, and this is the first time that I have... I've been a dog owner, so this is all very new to me over the last couple of years.

And I will say having a puppy, uh, this is embarrassing. It nearly broke me a couple of times.

[00:01:19] Steve: Oh,

[00:01:19] Tyler: there was one time where like I was on my home and he peed in the car seat and I was like, darn it. It's like, I took him inside so I could clean up the mess in the car. And then by the time I had gotten back inside, he'd peed on my carpet inside.

And you know, at that point, I, you know, it's just been a long day and yeah. So there's that. And then like the lack of sleep. Has some similarities, I suppose, with human children, but you know, it's much, it's very compact, like dogs grow up much faster than humans do. But yeah, training uh, is, is very challenging.

So, but yeah, very cute. So I would say it is all it's cracked up to be. It was awesome. It was very challenging, very rewarding. Would I do it again? TBD. I might be too old by the time it's time to get another dog

[00:02:02] Steve: Sure. How long do, uh, Whippets normally live?

[00:02:05] Tyler: I've heard 12 to 15 years, so we're two, just over two years in. So.

[00:02:11] Steve: I think it's pretty similar for doodles.

[00:02:14] Tyler: Anyway, one of the things I've been, uh, excited about now that my dog is, uh, growing up for the most part is getting him some hobbies, which I'm not a helicopter dog parent. I think like he is spoiled. He's an only, he's like the only other member of my household. So there's a lot of, you know, he gets a lot of attention and interaction, but anyway, he also requires running.

Like he is a sight hound. He's a runner. He's a sprinter. He likes to chase things. We play fetch every single day or else my life is miserable because he'll run around the house. Anyway, so I've been looking into sports. I ran into someone who introduced me to a coursing club. A coursing is where you have a lure and dogs chase it around a field.

It's perfect for Sighthounds, that's kind of what they're bred to do. And so I'm super excited. I talked to the president of this club. I was like, I've got a two year old whippet. Like, do you think we could come out and see how it works and maybe join? And one of the interesting things about it was he's like, oh yeah, it's a great sport because it doesn't require very much training.

They're literally just chasing a plastic bag around a field. Uh, you know, attached to a rope in this machine that makes it go really fast. Whippets can run up to 35 miles an hour. It's pretty crazy.

[00:03:20] Steve: Oh, wow.

[00:03:21] Tyler: Um, and so I was like, Oh, okay. So, uh, we're going to go out in November, go to this event, try it out, see how he does.

Uh, but I was like kind of curious today. So I was like, uh, it doesn't require much training. He said, you just need to know, you know, some dogs are really into chasing a plastic bag around a field and others are not. And so I got curious and I went and got a grocery bag. A plastic grocery bag and showed it to my dog, got him kind of stoked and then started running around the house.

And I think he's going to do just fine. It, he basically destroyed my house, unmade my bed. Like he was like so into it. So anyway, that's, uh, that's what happened to me today. And I'm pretty excited. I think, you know, I hope in real life, he's just as excited about the plastic bag as he was today. Cause it would be good to give him something to do.

That's, you know, for him, that's a lot of fun, gets his energy out. Be around Other Dogs, etc.

[00:04:20] Steve: Uh, we, we watch a TV show called Secrets of the Zoo, and, uh, they have some cheetahs on this show and they do kind of a similar thing where there's a, a lure that, that goes around their, their exhibit and they have the cheetahs chase it. Yeah.

[00:04:39] Tyler: that's awesome. You know, actually, uh, cheetahs and whippets and greyhounds all have something in common, which is that they share a, what they call a double suspension gallop. Which is part of what makes them so fast. And that just means that their all four legs are off the ground twice per stride instead of once per stride, like most four legged animals.

So like when they're fully extended, like on the side of the Greyhound bus, right? They're like supermanning flying through the air, no feet are touching the ground. And then again, when they're contracted. All four feet are off the ground, so there's, there's less friction. So anyway, you can add that to your gee-whiz collection.

[00:05:23] Steve: Great.

Hello there, dear listener. I'm Steve.

[00:05:32] Tyler: And I'm Tyler and welcome to another episode of It's Not About The Money, where we discuss our pets and a wide range of topics related to creating and running small businesses.

[00:05:44] Steve: Tyler and I both run small businesses ourselves, uh, and, uh, we are just trying to make sense of this world of business and life one podcast at a time.

The desire to create
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[00:05:56] Tyler: And today we're talking about something that has been on my mind a lot over the last, I'm going to call it 14 years. It's a bold claim, but it's true. And I have it pinned to a date because it comes from a YouTube video that I saw 14 years ago, according to YouTube anyway. It's just kind of an inspirational video where it's got, you know, someone giving a speech and then like inspirational music and like stock footage rolling in the background.

But the topic of it is. And how humans are inherently creative and can have a drive to create. And, it's always stuck with me like all these years. Uh, I'm glad the video was still on YouTube so I could find it, but so yeah, that's kind of what I wanted to talk about today.

[00:06:41] Steve: All right, let's do it.

[00:06:42] Tyler: So, one of the, uh, lines from this video that's kind of stuck with me is, uh, the speaker claims that the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. I find that interesting. I don't know how universal that is. That resonates a lot with me, which is why we're talking about this.

Um, but I'm curious, uh, do you feel, Steve, that you experience some kind of deep yearning to create?

[00:07:12] Steve: Uh, I think I do, uh, probably because. This sounds like something that's rather high up the Maslow's hierarchy of needs,

[00:07:21] Tyler: Oh, yeah.

[00:07:22] Steve: which I am fortunate enough to be situated near the top somewhere. I don't know, I

[00:07:28] Tyler: Would you put it under self actualization? Isn't that the top? The pinnacle?

[00:07:32] Steve: Is that the top one? We should look it up. Let's see. Wikipedia has got a couple versions of it here. We have Uh, this one has physiological, safety, belonging and love, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, that it might be there, self actualization, it might be there, transcendence, it could be there.

So, yeah,

somewhere in the

[00:07:55] Tyler: Yeah.

[00:07:56] Steve: And then this, this other one is, uh, simplified physiological, safety, belonging and love, esteem, which it could go there, because that lists feeling of accomplishment. Which is a big part of creativity. And then self actualization at the top. Okay.

yeah, so somewhere, somewhere near the top there.

[00:08:19] Tyler: it's interesting that the topic of creativity made you think of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. That's cool.

[00:08:25] Steve: Yeah, cause when I'm like, super focused on like, the stuff needs to get done so the bills can get paid. Uh, the kids need to be in bed. We need dinner to get made, you know, whatever. Those, those kinds of, uh, lower level needs. I don't have the mental space to think about, Oh, it would be nice to make something.

Well, but even then, I suppose,

[00:08:48] Tyler: Ooh, see, this is

[00:08:49] Steve: I'm making dinner, you

[00:08:50] Tyler: You're making dinner? Yeah.

[00:08:52] Steve: sometimes it's just, we're throwing chicken nuggets in the air fryer and that's what you're getting. And sometimes it's, I would like to, you know, let's make some pasta. Let's make something nice here.

[00:09:01] Tyler: So that's not the first time you've mentioned chicken nuggets in the air fryer. And it's really, really making me want to be a member of your household because that sounds delightful.

[00:09:09] Steve: It's, uh, well, yeah, the kids like it. I can't stand them anymore, but...

[00:09:15] Tyler: Maybe pair it with some air fried tater tots. Who knows?

[00:09:19] Steve: Oh, we should try tater tots. We do, uh, fries in the airfryer as well, and those are fine. Tater tots, though. That's a good idea.

[00:09:27] Tyler: Yeah. Well, let's talk for a second about what it means to create then, because I heard you kind of stop yourself there when you were like, well, when I'm doing these, I don't know, lower order or more, uh, higher priority tasks, I don't feel like I have the energy to create, and you're like, but wait a minute, even those tasks could involve creating something, right?

So,

[00:09:49] Steve: Mm hmm.

[00:09:50] Tyler: um, That's one of the other things I loved about this whole video is it kind of lists a bunch of different things that could be considered creative or the act of creation that maybe you wouldn't normally think of. I don't know about you. When I think of creation, I tend to think of like visual or like the arts in general, right?

Writing, painting, dancing, sculpting, making movies, creating a podcast

[00:10:14] Steve: Making music.

[00:10:16] Tyler: yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of the things that are listed in the video are improve, beautify, extend, smile, cultivate, and develop.

A few kind of synonyms in there, but like, I love that there's something as simple as smile because that's like, maybe like a very basic thing. And if you're, if you smile at someone, you actually, I can, you know, you're creating something, you're creating. Or, or improving maybe your relationship, if it's someone you know, or like creating a relationship if it's someone you don't know, you're just smiling at a stranger. Um, so no, I think that, I think that when I think about creativity or creation, I love thinking about it in like the broadest possible sense. Maybe you'd be even so broad that like just by existing, you are creating a different world than the world would be if you didn't exist.

[00:11:08] Steve: Hmm. Okay. When you read that list, it made me think of gardening, just not in the sense of like growing, uh, flowers or vegetables or like proactive gardening, but like the, the, the flower bed needs to get weeded or the lawn needs to be mowed or those kinds of things. Like, I do feel a sense of accomplishment when they're done and it's kind of like, I have, this is my little patch of the world and I'm going to make it more beautiful.

Like that's a, that's a form of creation, I suppose.

[00:11:39] Tyler: Yeah. That's cool. Like even the mundane of our lives, like the chores are linked in some way to this

[00:11:47] Steve: bringing order to the kitchen sink that is full of dishes,

[00:11:52] Tyler: Ooh, that's

[00:11:52] Steve: now, now the dishes are all clean, or they're stacked in the dishwasher, and, and the sink is empty. You know, that's, you know, that brings a certain satisfaction, to me anyway. Maybe not everybody's like that, I suppose, but,

[00:12:07] Tyler: but it's okay because. You are, and because you exist, you're creating a better world. See, yeah, so, uh, and that, that, I, I love how you said, uh, basically bringing order to chaos or creating out of chaos order,

[00:12:21] Steve: Mm.

[00:12:21] Tyler: because now we can put into this arena of creativity and creation, one of my favorite things, which is, You know, organizing my to do lists as nerdy as that is, you know,

[00:12:34] Steve: Yes, which we have talked about.

[00:12:36] Tyler: yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Anyone can create
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[00:12:38] Tyler: So, uh, another cool thing about what we're talking about here is, uh, there's no limit, like everyone can create something in some way. So it's interesting. Uh, the first thought that came to your head was about, you know, this is probably something that's higher up on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, but I would argue, and...

That you don't need like money or position or influence, uh, in order to create something of substance or beauty. although you might need some of those things if you're trying to create like fine art. Sure. Fine. I admit that

[00:13:17] Steve: yeah, but we're defining creativity pretty broadly

[00:13:20] Tyler: broadly. Yeah. So what are, uh, you know, as we think about this definition of creativity, what are some things that you've created, that you are most proud of?

[00:13:32] Steve: Well, I, I would say my family is one of those pretty high up the list of, um, you know, just two people that existed separately in the world. And now we are together and now there are kids, and there's a dog, and, you know, a little... And kind of everything that has grown up around that to support the family. My day job, my wife's work, this business, this podcast. You know, all of those kind of things that, um... At some point, maybe, at various times they are in a more creative mode, or like an expansion mode, and sometimes they are just in a maintenance mode of like trimming the hedges and pulling the weeds and those kind of just keeping them running.

one of the things that I get a lot of... Joy out of creating is playing music or singing, and that's usually not where I wrote the music or came up with it, but just, um, taking, like, printed music and turning it into the sound of music, that's, there's a lot of expression and intuition that goes into that action that I get a lot of joy out of.

[00:14:55] Tyler: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I, and in that is another thought related to what we were talking about just a minute ago, which is does creation have to be something totally original. I don't think so. Like you just said, you

[00:15:12] Steve: I don't think

[00:15:12] Tyler: you're, you're recreating or remixing a song that somebody else wrote, but it's flowing through your brain, coming out of your mouth or out of your fingertips.

If you're playing the piano or whatever. Right. And so that

[00:15:24] Steve: Mm hmm.

[00:15:25] Tyler: you creating your own perspective on it. That's cool. Love

[00:15:29] Steve: Yeah, exactly. How about you? What are some things you have been proud to have created?

[00:15:37] Tyler: Oh yeah. Honestly, that's a kind of a hard question. I loved your answers. I would, I would start with music also. I play the violin. I've never written a song or anything, but I love participating in symphony orchestras. To me, that's just one of the most sublime experiences I could possibly imagine, just being part of a large group of people. who create this amazing sound and just being like a cog in the machine it feels like right just one violinist out of you know 70 string players or whatever plus everything else but but that's something I really enjoy I love that I love doing that.

Um I think I would also answer, you know, similarly, you mentioned one of the things you've created that, that you love the most or the most proud of is like your family and everything that's built up around that.

And then you started listing other things. Right. And it made me think like, actually, um, maybe, Oh, this is going to sound, I don't know, I don't know, maybe one of the things that I've. Participated in the creation of, that I'm the most proud of is just like myself. Is that weird to say? Like, I don't like, uh, the sum of all of my actions, all my decisions, like all the pursuits that I've had in my life, like have resulted in who I am right now.

And of course it's not just me. It's all the people I've interacted with. It's my parents who like literally created me, uh, you know, my family, where I was raised, all that other stuff, but you know, I do believe that I have a say in my life, I have choices, I make choices. I have agency, you know, I've done a lot of things of my own free will and choice in theory.

Um, and like all that has led to a state of being, I suppose, that I'm experiencing today, it'll be different tomorrow. I'm pretty happy with the person I'm becoming. Is this a little too, uh, woo woo? I don't know, but, but I think I am. And you know, it's like never finished, right? There's lots and lots of rough edges, but I think to me, maybe that's like the ultimate process of creation is choosing. Influencing, I guess, who we become.

I, I love that.

[00:17:40] Steve: Yeah, I love that idea.

[00:17:43] Tyler: Um, and then perhaps more, uh, less, uh, existential is, I, I love photography. Um, I just had a couple of photos of mine in a, a public art show recently actually. So that was kind of a,

[00:17:54] Steve: oh,

[00:17:55] Tyler: a new experience for me. It was a lot of fun.

[00:17:57] Steve: Yeah. Yeah, photography's fun. My mom is really into astrophotography, and she'll, yeah.

[00:18:07] Tyler: That's awesome.

[00:18:09] Steve: Uh, so she, she can talk your ear off about it for hours. She's, she's, uh, really into the details and she can, she's sent me some like really cool photos as well,

[00:18:20] Tyler: Ooh, it sounds like she and I would get along . That's cool. I haven't gotten much into astrophotography, obviously. I've tried it because, Who hasn't, who hasn't, whoever's bought a camera has definitely tried, I feel like, but, but, but that's awesome. If she's got expertise in it, it sounds like that's, that's

[00:18:37] Steve: Yeah, she does.

Self as community
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[00:18:40] Steve: Something you said a minute ago, uh, made me think of the idea of community.

[00:18:47] Tyler: Hmm.

[00:18:47] Steve: So you, you have the, you have your family, you have your friends, your coworkers, all the people around you that you have influenced over the years, and they, part of who they are today is thanks to that influence that you've had on them, and vice versa.

And, uh, I also like to think of us individually as a community of people in the past and the future. Like, You said, uh, today you're, you're, you're here today and tomorrow it will be different and 10 years from now it'll, you'll be, you know, a different person. And we kind of, we have a hard time, uh, imagining our future selves as like, as us today.

It's kind of a different person in our mind, but that's also kind of a useful way to think of it. Like, The, the choices I'm making today will influence the reality for Steve 10 years from now.

[00:19:49] Tyler: Yeah. Ooh, that's crazy to think about. Actually. I, I heard someone say recently that as human beings, we have the ability to run models and simulations for free. They were kind of like drawing an analogy or with like computers or supercomputers, right? Where it's like, they run these models to see what, to predict what might happen in certain like situations.

But we do that all the time as human beings.

[00:20:14] Steve: Right.

[00:20:14] Tyler: And I think that's

[00:20:15] Steve: con consciously and subconsciously. There's, there's one theory of dreams that that's what the dreams are, is your brain trying to like play out scenarios and see what it would be like in, in a safe situation where, oh,

[00:20:29] Tyler: I thought you were going to say to see what it'd be like if that, if I could fly, because that is like the ultimate dream for me, but anyway, that doesn't, we don't need to get, we don't need to get into my dreams here. That is too crazy, but no, that's cool. Yeah.

[00:20:43] Steve: yeah, the brain is, is really good at doing that. Uh, and it can go off the rails too. If you have, uh, like anxiety, for example, uh, it's really easy to catastrophize of like you're projecting out into the future. What could the consequences be? And then like, what are the worst possible things that could happen?

And then, and then it feels like it's real.

[00:21:05] Tyler: Uh, there.

[00:21:05] Steve: you know, there's, there's a lot of power and danger in that, in the, in the way our brain works.

[00:21:11] Tyler: Yeah. And the subconscious and it's a, it's a busy place. I, uh, one of my favorite books I've read in the past few years is called Why We Sleep. And it also explores, I don't know if it's more, you know, it's not, it's not a scientific study. It's like a book. Obviously it cites a lot of scientific studies, but the author is a sleep expert.

And one of the things he kind of explores in that book at a certain part, it's only part of the book, but is the role of sleep and overcoming our traumatic experiences and you know, whether or not, uh, Some people are prevented from healing from PTSD, uh, because of a sleep problem more than anything else, because in your sleep, your brain allows you, it turns off your fight or flight mechanisms and then allows you to process traumatic experiences in the absence of cortisol, basically.

And so you can be like, Oh, okay. That happened. I'm fine. My fight or flight is not kicking in. Right. But, but if that mechanism is broken, then, uh, that's why you can get like recurring nightmares. Right. And you just keep having over and over again, because you're not able to process it in that kind of safe space.

Like you were saying,

[00:22:21] Steve: Yeah. Fascinating.

[00:22:24] Tyler: that's not really related to creativity, but it's really cool. So,

[00:22:29] Steve: yeah, we've gone down a few tangents here,

Trying things that didn't work out
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[00:22:32] Tyler: so, uh, I'm also curious. I don't know. I feel like both you and I have tried many different things over the years in various. Uh, can you think of any things that you've been excited about trying to create that like, in your perspective, like didn't work out or like, you know, didn't turn out the way you expected or, or develop into something that you hoped they would be?

I've got a very long list myself, but I'm, I'm curious.

[00:22:55] Steve: I can think of, quite a few business ideas that I had that I tried maybe half heartedly, maybe with some degree of ambition, uh, that ultimately flopped or didn't, or didn't have the, Have sufficient time and energy to succeed.

[00:23:17] Tyler: Yeah. But you tried and I think that's cool because even though they didn't succeed, the attempt is now part of you.

[00:23:25] Steve: Hmm, yeah, that's an interesting thought. And sometimes the attempt was, uh, just as far as building a spreadsheet to say what's like the addressable market for this idea. And, oh, well, that's too small. It's never going to be worth it. So I'm just going to put the brakes on now. But sometimes it was, well, I still want to, uh, yeah, well, that's true.

Or, yeah. Or I want to try and build this thing and, and then, uh, you know, I lose motivation or something, but I learned how to do, you know, how to, how to build a blog, how to assemble mailing list infrastructure, you know, things like that.

[00:24:05] Tyler: Uh, speaking of that, I just sent you, was it today or yesterday? I, uh, the craziest thing happened. I apparently had an, a WordPress blog from 2009 that I only posted three times on ever. And I got an email notification today that somebody subscribed and I was like, wait, what? And I went and I looked at it and yeah, it was this blog about, uh, Of all things, music and my interpretation of my favorite songs.

I couldn't believe it. So there's a, there's a failed, a failed endeavor, you know, but I totally had forgotten about it, but yeah, I've started many blogs and I'm, I'm, uh, unsure. I thought I deleted them all, but you know, maybe not. Apparently not. Except for my current one, of course.

[00:24:46] Steve: a part of internet history. I mean, that, that's very, that's very of the time.

[00:24:51] Tyler: Yeah.

[00:24:52] Steve: To, to make a blog like that.

[00:24:53] Tyler: Yeah. Oh yeah, it had all the trappings of, uh, you know, those, uh, early 2000s internet.

It was, it was great. Three posts, right? I probably had like 20 tags. I was like, oh yeah, this one's about music and poetry and classical and I didn't even know. I was like, wow. I don't, it was, it was quite hilarious actually, but,

[00:25:17] Steve: hmm. Yeah, that was, I have fond memories of that era of the internet.

[00:25:20] Tyler: oh, me too.

[00:25:22] Steve: You know, that was, that was part of the time of, uh, you know, my coming of age

[00:25:28] Tyler: Mm hmm.

[00:25:29] Steve: young adulthood was kind of right in that. Time period. So

[00:25:33] Tyler: It was like, the most interesting thing about it. To me, from our perspective today is that it was before any kind of social media. And so the, the internet felt a lot more like just a network of websites, which I mean, technically it still is. Right. But, but, and, you know, you found things through blogrolls and just linking to your friends' blogs and websites and things. And it was, I don't know, it was a different world. It was cool.

[00:26:01] Steve: Yeah. A lot less of the walled garden fiefdom kind of ecosystem that we have now.

[00:26:08] Tyler: And a lot fewer, um, content algorithms, if any. I mean, you had the search engines, I guess, but

[00:26:16] Steve: Yeah.

[00:26:17] Tyler: anyway, well, now we're reminiscing, now we're, now we

[00:26:21] Steve: Yeah.

[00:26:22] Tyler: We're dating ourselves here a little

[00:26:23] Steve: Yeah. If you didn't already know how old we are, you can figure it out now.

[00:26:27] Tyler: yeah. Okay. Well,

[00:26:29] Steve: uh, did you, did you want to tell me any of your, uh, long list of,

Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you
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[00:26:34] Tyler: Oh, well, uh, yeah, I think that blog counts as one. I mean, I think I look, I've actually, I was really that, that period of the internet that we were just talking about, I was like really into it. I had a blog about my college experience. I had a blog about my religious faith. I had a blog about, I had a secret blog about like my private diary.

I had a blog about photography. I had a blog, and this was just like, it was so haphazard and all over the place. Oh, I had a blog that I was writing in Russian. Because I studied Russian in college, and, you know, man, uh, so yeah, lots of, like, fun little creative projects. I wouldn't call them failures, because I don't know what, I never defined success.

I was just enjoying the process of making stuff. So that's another thing I think

[00:27:21] Steve: Yeah. There's something to be said for that.

[00:27:23] Tyler: worth keeping in mind, yeah. Uh, in fact, um, I just want to mention,

[00:27:28] Steve: not everything you do has to. Become a business. You can just do things because you like them.

[00:27:33] Tyler: Well, that can be crippling that really, you know, once the internet started to get really money driven or monetized, I guess you could say, uh, I felt a lot of pressure of them like, Oh, this thing that I used to do just for fun, I wrote this blog about my favorite songs that no, you know, no one's ever going to see.

And I was just fine with that became, how am I going to do SEO on this blog? How am I going to get people to see this? How am I going to build my email list so I can sell them my whatever, right? It was, it was this really weird. It messed up the incentives for me in a lot of ways, and I kind of regret... Some of my reactions to that change because I missed out on a lot of the fun of it and it paralyzed me and prevented me from just doing things for fun. If I would have kept like one blog, think about it. If I'd been blogging since 2009 and never stopped and never really cared about any of that stuff.

Ooh, I don't know. And it'd be interesting to see what it would look like today. Right. Um,

so I guess that's, that's the last thing I wanted to share from the video I mentioned that inspired this episode. Uh, it's just a little line from it that says, don't let the voice of critics paralyze you, you will make the world a better place. And whether that critic is other people or honestly, just yourself, like it was for me,

[00:28:53] Steve: yeah,

[00:28:54] Tyler: like no one, none of my family, none of my friends have ever had the heart to tell me, wow, this is terrible. Uh, not because it wasn't terrible probably, but, but you know, it's always me. I think we're all our own worst critics and, uh, we shouldn't let that stop us from just, uh, creating and having a good time.

[00:29:15] Steve: I like that,

[00:29:17] Tyler: And then, you know, the more things you try, I think eventually you'll, you'll develop an understanding of what your talents are. Right. Um, and then you can lean into those.

[00:29:28] Steve: mm hmm,

[00:29:29] Tyler: So yeah, that was a pretty wide ranging conversation about creativity, but, uh, I think we can leave it there.

[00:29:36] Steve: I'll save it there. Thanks, Tyler, that was fun,

[00:29:39] Tyler: Yeah. Thanks for listening to It's Definitely Not About The Money. We'll see you next time.

[00:29:45] Steve: haha, buh bye.