If this looks familiar to the tiny handful who actually follow whatever I waste my time doing, this is a revamp of the AVDRcast. I thought giving this another shot is worth the effort since I have a good mic, time in my hands, and things to say about whatever. The format of what I now consider the alpha version of this podcast was utter trash; I need to go with something more long term instead of just talking about current events. For instance, this episode is about why I’m still struggling with this whole content creation schtick, even when I’ve been failing to gain traction all these years.
The topics to be discussed in this revamp of the AVDRcast is pretty much anything I please in whatever field I may have an iota of knowledge about, such as I did with content creation and creative pursuits in this inaugural (reboot) episode. I already have other topics lined up for future episodes as well.
Music: “Jester for a King” by Barbarian Overlords
Topics Discussed in This Episode
In this new format, I work with an outline containing bullet points of what I want to talk about during recording; everything else is stream of consciousness. For this episode, these are the points I made about my experience with this whole content creation crap, or just creative and artistic pursuits in general.
- Fucking Around with Podcasting
- Motivation for Making Stuff
- The Search for More
- Playing Around
- The Apparent Futility
- Why the Fuck I’m Still Trying
There have been past attempts at this, and this is the third time I’ve gotten into podcasting. Third time could be the charm, and this format is promising. We’ll see if this does stick as a permanent part of my content creation.
Despite years of languishing in mediocrity and obscurity, I still have an urge to make my own stuff, mostly through this blog and my two YouTube channels in recent years. My skill and talent are limited and motivation proves to be consistently scarce, but the lingering desire to make stuff has always been there.
There are the obligations that will always be there in life, but there’s also the yearning for something more than just the daily grind. Plenty would start looking around, wishing to discover what they can get into and call their own. You have to be somewhat lucky to find it while having to take care of responsibilities in life at the same time.
The money, time, and energy that goes into playing around with the creative process, which is the bulk of the exploration and learning experience. With finite time, energy, and resources to sustain a prolonged period of self-driven creative exploration, many find it wasteful and focus on other more financially-rewarding things.
Hopelessness can drive a creator to abandon “the foolish quest” of making things on his/her own due to lack of immediate incentives, as well as being compared to more successful creators in their particular niches. Then there’s also the stress and anxiety that comes with sharing one’s content.
Mostly on one’s value system and how one derives reward from the internal versus the external in the ongoing pursuit of happiness. It all goes back to the reason why some people are driven to create things, even to an audience of none.
Additional Notes and Links
Delve by Adam Westbrook — The YouTube channel with the Long Game series, talking about the grind that comes with creative work.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience — The critically-acclaimed book written by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi that investigates what goes into “optimal experience” and achieving the state of consciousness called “flow”.
Homo Ludens — Another recommended reading related to the pursuit of creativity and productivity. Written in 1938 by Dutch historian and cultural theorist Johan Huizinga, it discusses the importance of “play” in culture and society.
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