The "unfair" advantage of the young, secular content creator.
Why I could never be as "good" as the creators I look up to.
This next entry was written in a fleeting moment a few months back. I have since developed these thoughts a bit more and even spoke about them last week. But I wanted to share my early thoughts on that matter since last week’s discussion garnered quite a bit of discussion from both my newsletter subscribers and my fellow YouTubers alike.
09.12.2022
Priorities as a young content creator
There is a common theme amongst most of the content creators that I enjoy that are really out there killing it with consistent, quality content.
They are not married, and they don’t have kids.
Their current responsibilities in life seem to really only consist of themselves and their success/work.
This allows them to travel, work weird hours/work all the time, constantly experiment, be constantly engaged online and with their followers, etc.
In many ways this gives them a leg up when it comes to success in the content creation game.
Every time I am inspired by a new-found creator and the work they are producing, I find out they are single.
Now, I have two feelings about this.
I am jealous. This isn’t healthy. Because it means in a way I am jealous of their freedom and their ability to truly pour into their art. Which means a part of me is wishing that I also had that freedom.
I pity them. I have an amazing wife and an incredible daughter. They both bring me so much joy and pouring into them is both a selfless and selfish act. I wish these other creators were able to experience this beautiful aspect of life in the same way that I am.
So, the main thing that I struggle with each day is striking the balance between these two worlds.
(By the way, I just want to slide in an aside here. These points I’m making are true for any type of job and career, not just content creators. But as someone who is interested in the mostly unmapped creatorprenuer landscape, I am highly aware of these differences in this space particularly)
Concord
It takes me back to a discussion I had late one night in high school with my best friend, Ben. We were discussing how in life we have passions and worldly aspirations — things we want to do to serve and impress upon the world.
And we also have family — how we serve them well and support them both financially, physically, and emotionally.
This life-balance I later distilled down into the name CONCORD, which I used as the name of my first serious musical project in college — The Band Concord. I was (and am) constantly mulling over this balance and how best to strike the scales to give each side its appropriate attention.
Both are, in my opinion, important
Secular vs. Christian world view
In this world full of self-love and self-gain, we see more and more single individuals concentrating on monetary, social, and political gain over familial and service-oriented efforts.
From a secular standpoint, there is a strong argument for this lifestyle.
After all, if there is no life after death, why would we not do as much as we can to grow our personal status in this lifetime?
As a Christian, however, the Word offers a different world view — family and discipleship become more important than personal status. So, on a personal level, this is something I am working through when it comes to content creation and my “personal brand”.
These thoughts have recently resurfaced in a big way as I walk through life beside the guys in my church. I am inspired by their understanding of the Bible and how they are balancing career and family as well.
What are your thoughts on this topic?
I do want to continue to develop this thought and would enjoy any and all input you might have on this topic. Whether you are Christian or not, religious or not, I would be interested to hear your opinions on the matter.
This is a fleeting article I am writing in a coffee shop waiting for a business conference here in Blacksburg, VA. I just finished my coffee and I am itching to go out and shoot some photos in the early morning light.
So, until next time.
Thanks for reading!
This hits close to home, especially for folks in the position of having these passions that would fall under the content creation umbrella, but are not one of the lucky few who has yet been able to make a living off of it. Having needs, such as food and a place to live, generally require a job, and there goes a large chunk of time. And then there are relationships to maintain, chores to do, meals to cook, kids to take care of, and it becomes hard to make time to get overly sophisticated with content creation, and when there is time, it's often late at night, you're tired and uncreative, and the advantage of the young grows. It can be a self-perpetuating cycle. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound too down and out, I like my life, but I have thought about the same exact predicament you described. I do wish I could somehow make/have enough money to support myself so instead of working 8-5, I could do this, but it makes me happy enough that I'll do it 7-9 instead.
There is a lot to this idea, and honestly I am glad someone is talking about it. I thought I was a real piece of crap for wanting to devote more time to this "content creation" life, and exploring the idea of cutting certain things out of my life so I could do so felt a little embarrassing.
At the risk of being too honest, I started substack because I wrote about my dilemma of wanting to start a family, and yet wanting to maintain my time to devote to other things, so this is really hitting home. I have not been brave enough to post that yet though, and probably never will. Admitting that that is a dilemma is a bit of a taboo.
Last thing, on the Christian front, I do understand that family and service would be more important than doing a bunch of self serving content creation in the hopes of becoming rich and famous. But is there a problem with saying I don't want a family so I can pursue this thing that I'm passionate about. I know being a Christian is a lot more than that, but curious what you think.
I read my Bible,pray & do my best to walk a straight line.