Make It A Habit, Not An Income
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If you knew you would die tomorrow, would you care about your Medium income today?
When did writing become something we did for money? When did it stop being enough to have a sympathetic ear? When did writing stop being an art form, and become a hustle? And why do we seem to think that this isn’t a problem?
Any time we turn something we love into something we rely on for an income, something is lost.
We can no longer be spontaneous, take risks, or be experimental. Instead we must make calculated decisions based on metrics that inevitably impact our output.
Some would say that this shift is positive. That we’re telling people what they want to hear, and by that very nature, we’re doing good. But what if giving people what they want to hear isn’t synonymous with good.
There’s a reason we say a child has been spoiled, you know.
Opinions have become currency, both literally and figuratively. And opinions in the form of writing, have become products. From influencers to political candidates, opinions are being cashed in all over the world.
This isn’t to say that every opinion is worth ignoring. I’m obviously standing on my soap box right now. But the gluttony at which we produce opinions without any sort of quality control is, at best, alarming and at it’s worst, it’s destructive.
More is not always better.
In the same vein, less is not always better. Quality matters, especially now that the number of options has expanded to such a dizzying degree.
But I’ve got to say, this habit of ours, to swing from one extreme to the other, from limited elitist voices to everyone's voice, has got to be the most counter productive method for moving forward.
To go from gate keepers and reckless censorship, to everyone having an opinion or belief that must be equally acknowledged. Well, I’m just going to say…
There’s a reason swings don’t go anywhere.
It’s like what Anton Ego from Ratatouille said,
Not everyone can…
