What You Consume Controls What You Create (Part 2 of The Unseen Architecture of Visibility Series)

Are you letting your phone, your playlists, and your media diet dictate your creative output? In the second part of our series, In part 2 of a 3 part series, host Jazzmyn dives deep into consumption—and how being intentional about what you let into your orbit is the non-negotiable step to maintaining your creative space.

From swapping true crime podcasts for inspiring pop music to trading self-help books for classic literature, this episode challenges the beige aesthetics and serious personas that are stifling fun and authenticity in the content space. More than just avoiding doom scrolling, Jazzmyn reveals how simply putting your phone down can lead to the most meaningful, influential, and content-worthy (but not-for-content) moments of your life. It’s time to stop chasing trends and start living, so you can show up as your authentic self.

In this episode, get your Permission Slip to:

• Consume More of What You Love: Stop censoring your influences and lean into the media, music, and conversations that genuinely spark joy and fun.
• Be a Human First, a Creator Second: Realize that not every moment needs to be content and that being present is the ultimate fuel for your creative process.
• Nurture Your Creative Space: Understand that creativity doesn't bloom from stagnant water; it requires thoughtful, intentional nourishment and fierce protection.

Want to learn how to turn your inner life into visible influence? Tune in and start setting a higher standard for your creative consumption.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Are you sitting with thousands of hours of B-roll content and telling yourself, I'll start posting tomorrow? Are you in your head worried about your friends and family thinking you're cringe for choosing to be visible? Are you chasing trends instead of building influence? Welcome to the visibility standard where the visionaries of today are changing the roles of their industries and letting their voice be heard. I'm your host, Jasmine, and we are setting the standard. Welcome back, everybody. Today is the second part of a three-part series called The Unseen Architecture, Visibility, Maintaining Your Creative Space. Last week we talked about relationships, and today we are going to be talking about consumption. What you are consuming, how thoughtful you can be about your consumption, and honestly, putting your fucking phone down is one of the best things you can do for your creativity. I am someone that has gotten really present with their creativity and consumption over the last, I would say, six months. I recognize everything that I allowed into my creative orbit, my mind, like my thoughts, ideas, was informing my creativity and how I would create. Consumption can also be the kind of music that you're listening to, the TV shows that you're watching, the podcasts that you're listening to. For all of my true crime girlies who love a good murder mystery, how is that going for your creativity? Is that really the energy you want to be inviting into your creativity? I am clearly not a true crime girly. Like I don't enjoy that genre. If it works for you, it works for you. Does not work for me. One piece of consumption that I got really present with was the music that I was listening to. When I would walk my dog in the morning, I started choosing artists that really inspired me. I've said this before, but I am a huge fan of Lady Gaga. I was a huge fan of the Just Dance era, Fame Monster era. And so I started walking, listening to her earlier albums. And let me tell you, I felt more energized. I felt more motivated. I felt more excited because I felt the creativity buzzing in the music. I also really started listening to early Britney Spears albums. Not like her 90s, oops, I did it again era, but I love I Wanna Go. Three, like the very experimental pop era. I think that's why I am a really big pop girly. I love Charlie XCX. I love Chapel Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, because there is something so fun about their music. And that is a key piece of what I believe is missing in the content space right now is fun. We are all trying to show up very serious, very put together. Like we believe our ideal client wants us to show up this prim and polished way. When a lot of people really just want us to show up as ourselves, I think that the artists that I just named, they do that really well. Granted, that is their public professional persona that they have chosen, but they are choosing to incorporate fun. They are choosing to incorporate color. I think we have also gotten really used to the beige aesthetic, whether it's in our home, whether it's in like our carousel design choice that we have allowed for ourselves. We we have taken fun out of creativity, but that's because we are consuming so much and what we consume, we believe other people want to see, and that's what we put out there. Even in the books that I read, I don't like typically read a lot of self-help books. I have never been a huge self-help girly. The book that I'm reading right now is House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. If you have not heard about it, that makes sense. I learned about it in one of my English classes in undergrad because I was an English major. I believe it was in like my American literature one course, and this was 1800s literature, 1900s. But there is something so enamoring when books were written without the possibility of a visual, without the possibility of a TV show or a movie. The writing is curated where you are like immersed in the story. And so I've really been enjoying it as my escape reading. I'm I'm trying to get back into like Kate Chopin, Flannery O'Connor, a lot of the early literature that I learned about. I don't know. It feels the most influential without being the most influential. And I don't really know how to describe that. I know that literature was created for a very specific time, but it's not writing that you see anymore simply because dialects have evolved, language has evolved, what people choose to read has evolved and how people write. But there is something so beautiful about immersing myself in like early American literature. I really enjoy it. Even the TV shows that I watch. I just finished Downton Abbey. Something about not being present with the modern world really sparked like creativity. That is a personal choice because I love to cook. Also, it is another way for me to stimulate my creative process as a creator who makes a podcast, who makes short form content, and who loves to cook. Cooking is like the natural extension of my creativity. What I'm basically trying to say is through all of these avenues, we think about social media a lot, but we don't think about the other ways that we can be influenced by our creativity, the books that we read, the podcasts we consume, the music that we listen to, the conversations that we have. And so as you are thinking about being intentional, about your creativity, about maintaining that creative space, it's in everything. I'm not saying you can't have those comfort shows. Like, I also love reality TV. Does it spark creativity? No. Are we expected to be constantly being in a space where we are cultivating our creativity through media? No. But I will ask the question: how dedicated to maintaining your creative bubble are you? How dedicated are you to your purpose? How dedicated are you to creating the content that feels aligned to truly show up authentically? Based on those questions, will determine how thoughtful you are willing to be in your consumption. And part of thoughtful consumption is knowing when to put your fucking phone down. Some of my most influential experiences have been because I put my phone down. A few years ago, I went to the beach. I was crashing out hard. And I went and stayed at one of those really quirky hotels. It was right by the water. It was really cheap. At that point, I didn't care. I just wanted to be by the water. It was one of those places where you like can pay to take a shower there. And it was not like a fancy like fob or even like a key card. Like I use traditional key and lock. That's what we're talking about right now. But this place had stacked parking, and so someone could park beside you, someone could park behind you. It was going to be really tough to get out. So when I was checking out, I literally got stuck in my parking spot for maybe an hour. So a woman that was staying in the same hotel with me was also like really struggling. So she came downstairs, sat with me, I told her I was waiting on my parking spot, and we just talked. She let me know what was going on in her life. She spilled information about some challenges she was having with parenting and how she feels as a parent. And she recognized like the sadness that was in my eyes. She recognized I was just really struggling. And she said to me, You don't know how good your life is going to get on the other side. And I have sat with those words six years giving that presence to her, to us, and not being on my phone, not having my headphones in, and having this very organic conversation with the complete stranger. I didn't really get her name. We didn't get exchange numbers. Like there was no expectation to stay in contact, but for this one moment, this one divine moment, I was able to share in presence with this person and really support one another. And that is the beauty of not being behind your fucking phone all the time. Like part of creating is putting yourself out there, is putting yourself in experiences. Everything doesn't have to be content. Granted, when I did this, it was maybe when content, like content wasn't on my radar, but even now I would not have thought to create content based on that moment or feel the need to create a content-worthy moment. We're so worried about getting this viral moment that we stopped living. We stopped being present in our lives because we're so focused on filming, and that's really removing us from our creativity. Now, yes, there are creators, and there's a way that you can document your day-to-day, but you also have to give yourself permission to just live your life. Recently, I was feeling really burnt out with work, and I was really confused because I was doing things that I was enjoying. I was taking quote unquote time for myself. I realized I needed to take more opportunities to get the fuck out of my house. I needed to be out in the world, living my life, being present, going to the park, going to get my nails done, something that would offer something different than being in front of my screen. I realized that me sitting in my house, being so enamored with what was going on on the computer, constantly sitting and waiting for emails was taking me away from my creative orbit. When we think about consumption, it is not just consuming less of what we don't like, it is consuming more of what we do, consuming the real world, allowing ourselves to experience and be present the kind of music that we like, the kind of podcasts that we like, the kind of books that we're reading, allowing very human emotions to move what we choose to create. When we become so present and locked in on our creative process, there is really nothing that can stop us. Yes, we might have that cringe fear or the fear that, oh, this is really stepping outside of my niche, or how are other professionals and my field gonna look at this? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what they think. You are looking for your ideal client, you are looking for your ideal people, and your ideal people are going to value your authenticity more than anything. As we are rounding out the year, I want you to really sit down and think about how consumption is impacting your creativity and how you can be more intentional about it going forward. Getting clear about the creative space that you want to be in and adding the things that add to that and taking the way the things that don't are going to be really valuable. Even as I'm sitting down having this conversation right now, I'm thinking about different ways that I can continue to nurture my creative space. Your creative space is something that needs to be nurtured, it is not something that comes naturally, and it's not something that will bloom from stagnance. It is something that needs to be nurtured and catered to and protected. It's a pretty short one today, but that's what I've got for you. When we think about consumption, it's not just about avoiding the doom scrolling, it's not just about blocking creators that elicit negative feelings. It's uh creating more space for creators that make you feel good, creating more space in your life for the things that absolutely make you feel good, and leaning into that and being more present with that, and giving yourself permission to constantly be immersed with that and not needing to waver. We'll love to hear your thoughts on this. You can find me at Healing with Jasmine on all major socials. It's also my website handle. If anyone looking for a therapist or different ways to work with me, you can find me at healingwithjasmine.com. Otherwise, I'll see you Friday and thanks for tuning in.