Making is better than Consuming Creating something in itself is a heavenly experience but creating something that you would yourself like to consume is something even better

When you think of making and consuming, you'd be within your rights to assume that these activities are like chalk and cheese. Though, when you'll pause to think about it, both these activities have a lot in common. When you're trying to buy a study table, riding a bicycle, driving a car, watching a movie, visiting an art gallery, consuming an advertisement or anything under the sun - think about it from a maker's perspective. Why you may ask? For the simple reason, that it is a far more gratifying experience. If you can get into the nitty-gritty of it like what kind of wood is the study table made from, the durability of the cycle, the make of the car or the joy of escape into a movie where we can experience different worlds; being a MakerConsumer is far more gratifying. Let's make a case for why being a Maker is a fulfilling experience rather than being simply a Consumer.

Maker-Maker Transactions are More Meaningful

There's nothing inherently wrong in being a mere consumer. You cannot be a maker of everything - a division of labour matters. However, the case is that a MakerConsumer will derive more value out of the consumer experience than a passive consumer for the same amount of money spent. Think of all the consumption experiences of your life. Which one was the most memorable? We can bet that it had to do with something where you and the maker shared a common skill or knowledge. Your knowledge of making turned the transaction into one amongst fellow makers rather than between an expert and a consumer.

Only Consuming Results in a Creative Void

Since the industrial revolution, the ability of corporations to create more led to an imbalance in the supply and demand equation. Therefore, new functions like Marketing and Advertising had to be created to convince customers to buy more. The method employed was to instil a void of incompleteness in the consumer. Remember the Complete Man advertisement from Raymonds? The issue with this process is that this cycle of consuming and not feeling content is never-ending. There's something new to buy on the block every time so this void can never be filled at least via the consumption side of the equation. Maybe we should look at the other side of the equation i.e. can producing or making fill the void? Well, it seems to be intuitive - the more time we spend making, the less time we spend consuming and thereby moving the needle to contentment.

You Have to DIE to Get to Heaven

Have you heard the saying "Everyone wants to go to heaven, but, no one is ready to die for it"? In other words, in order to get anything out of any experience, you have to really get deep inside it. The best example of this is personified when you listen to any song or poetry. For you to have a very fulfilling experience, you should be able to understand the lyrics or the meaning of poetry to experience it completely and not just hum with the rhythm. In other words, immersing oneself 100per cent into the experience results in appreciating the experience. The MakerConsumers know this all too well - as thoughtful making employs all your senses and it becomes your second nature. The times that we are living in, the best gift that we can give to our next generation is this opportunity to be Makers and not mere consumers. Not only will they create a future more exciting for all of us, but also they will be happier and more content.