Trickle and flow
Every now and then, we hear news about a lake or water reservoir somewhere being “dangerously close” to drying up. So many millions of people who rely on this body of water are in danger of having their water supply cut off, and the whole region is suddenly in crisis mode.
What we don’t hear about in the news is why this reservoir or lake got to this crisis point in the first place.
Most likely an assumption by everyone in the area – or at least most everyone – that the water supply is endless.
“That lake is so massive. Of course there’s enough water for little old me and my needs,” so the thought goes. Therefore it’s no problem to consume the hundreds of gallons per week it takes to keep your lawn green and lush – while living in the desert.
Or take a 60 minute shower twice per day.
Then all of a sudden it’s revealed that the water supply is indeed finite, and everyone is in a panic.
“Everyone needs to quit drinking water immediately!” Well maybe not that drastic. But it’s clear that things need to change and fast; otherwise the situation will be dire. I’m probably oversimplifying things here as I’ve never actually been directly involved in a drought; but I’m going off what I know about human nature.
The thing folks in these regions should remember is that their water supply won’t last forever. They need to be responsible with their use of water; and also have a means of replenishing the supply. It takes constant effort to keep that water supply where it should be. And if they have those emergencies, what to do? The first rule of getting out of a hole is to stop digging. Manage the consumption, then worry about the supply. And you can’t expect the supply to magically reappear in a week. It took a long time to get to that crisis point, and it will take a long time to get it back to normal.
But you’ve got to just start refilling the tank, little by little. Soon enough, the levels are where they should be.
All this is an allegory for my own profession of content creation. Anyone who’s ever hit “publish” on anything knows there are ebbs and flows to the process. And for some reason the “ebbs” seem to take much longer to play out than the “flows”. But when it flows, it gushes out beautifully.
It doesn’t just happen. It takes sitting down and keeping that personal promise to write 500 words per day, even at 9:15 pm after a long day of work, followed by the kids’ soccer practice. Releasing the podcast 3x per week, whether you have anything to say that’s worth listening to or not.
500 words doesn’t seem like much, but it keeps the tank full so to speak. A 10 minute solo podcast seems trivial; but it keeps the creator in that flow state. Even if that flow is just a trickle at times.
If you want to hear what I’m up to to keep in that flow state, then you’ll want to check out my new podcast called This Is What We C.R.A.V.E. It features guests, and solo commentary alike. There have been some good episodes released as of late; go check it out and see if anything strikes your interest.