"You are what you eat" is a commonly known phrase. I'd argue just as important, in today's world, is the concept, "You are what you think about." I've written about consumption versus production many times before, but my recent circumstances spurred me to revisit it once again.

If you're consuming content all the time, you're thinking about what the creators of that content are thinking. This pertains to the news, podcasts, reading online, etc.--regardless of medium, consumption is consumption. There are times when I have either listened to podcasts or read online for the majority of my waking hours, meaning I subjected myself to the whims of others. My consciousness on those days was directed, not by me, but by people I've never met. I didn't have any agency; my actual brain's functionality was imposed upon by strangers. It's kind of wild to think about it in this way.

This past week was my first week back to work after being in the Caribbean, an experience I previously wrote about. Every day this week, I didn't consume anything before lunch time--and I didn't even think about it, it wasn't an effort--it was completely unconscious. And I think it's because the Caribbean helped me recapture my independence, because I only listened to music. I didn't consume a single podcast or read online at all. Someone told me about the plane crash in Japan and I had no idea. I didn't even know whether my beloved 49ers beat the Commanders--in fact I didn't even know when the game was. This wasn't some sort of impressive feat--I was completely absorbed in the magic of the Virgin Islands, and being there was so immersive that it pulled me away from my consumption habits. Returning home and to the office, I simply carried on with what I was doing in the Caribbean; my baseline had changed. And this just goes to show how malleable our minds our, how quickly we can shift our operating system.

This can make life challenging for sure. We can continue on a harmful path simply because momentum has built up. But it also makes us powerful. It shows we can change our perspective, shift our paradigm in life, literally rewire the circuitry of our brains. I think it's incredibly important to be mindful of one's consumption habits, because in a zero-sum game for our attention and focus, any consumption inherently takes away from our production, from our ability to contribute. And that is where collectively, through elevating our global consciousness, we can change the world: through our individual contributions, through our will and agency to make the universe a better place. This can unite humanity and further inspire change. It all stems from such a simple concept. You are what you think.