> I don't think the antidote to consumption is necessarily production.

I agree. It's play. Dance more, tell stories more, jump the cracks in the sidewalk more, hang out with people you like more.

Those hippies were on to something back in the 1960s.

dito, don't we have enough producers of cloths, they are even customizable. and not only cloths, do we need 10+ car manufacturers? millions brands of beverages, beers, etc.

It isn't feasible. The secret common to every balanced, healthy full-time creative I've met is that they need to fill up the hours with a bit of technical study to stay up to date, plus things that give them creative energy - not strict time-on-task to a project goal(which can happen in spurts). These are neither strictly productive nor consumptive things, and mundane effort on housekeeping, long walks or journaling can be as restorative as anything else.

So if your day job is using what you've got, I'd say, hang in there. Sometimes you can make it work by switching mediums in the off-hours. A habit I've gotten into recently is to use the voice recording on my phone to journal as I take a walk. Those recordings, usually 10-20 minutes in length, are less technical, less polished and reviewable by their nature, which puts them in that "first draft mode" that is good for pushing forward with a creative goal and to have an intense, vulnerable conversation with myself without putting on the filters as I might by tapping it out on the screen.

I agree. It's hard to break out of the cycle, especially when you work a 9-5 (or similar) job and have to critically think throughout the day.

It's really hard to break through that especially in a system that incentivizes mass consumption, and arguably preys on it (addictive social media, food, etc...). I think it's about finding something meaningful, or building meaningful relationships, and harvesting the fruits of that labor. I think if you always try to be creative and produce something, not only will you get burned out but life will just pass you by. We should stop and smell the roses, not consume them.

I'm not artistic so I can't speak to that and I don't work on any projects outside of work because I don't have time or energy. What I do I wouldn't call "producing" but things like gardening or going for a run are things that make me feel better and don't require my analytical mind.

I feel the same way. The amount of times I slide into the dumb side of YouTube after a day's worth of work is a bit embarrassing. Some reading is sometimes possible, but I feel finished at the end of a day.