It's customary to make a resolution at New Year's. I have mine and will be encouraging my family to make theirs, but this is not another "my resolution is.." post. Instead I have a New Year's wish for all BubbleTimer users (so that includes me).

My wish was inspired by a blog post by David Tate with the provocative title, The Dangerous Effects of Reading. What could be dangerous about reading? Isn't reading one of the classic "good for you" things. Shouldn't we all be resolving to watch less TV and read more? Yes. Sort of. As a form of consumption, reading (most things) is better than watching (most) TV and David doesn't have anything against reading, it's over-consumption that he's cautioning about. I'll quote David at a bit of length here:

Reading and learning are great – but over-consumption changes the way that you think:

• I need to quickly judge things
• I need to use other peoples work to make myself look cool through sharing them with my friends
• I need more and more faster – the more you read blogs the more you think you need to read to get “The Top 10 Productivity Tips”
• I need to hear what others think before I form an opinion (If you have ever read a review of a new gadget before it launches: think about how ridiculous this activity is)
• I should accept the world as it is and just offer my opinion on it

… You stagnate at work for fear of everything you do being judged like every [book], news article or viral video that you view.

So what's the alternative to consumption? Creation of course. Back to David:

So how do you break the power of consumption? By creating your own things. All the things you consume - somewhere somebody is making all this stuff, right?

...If the world overwhelms you with its constant production of useless crap which you filter more and more to things that only interest you can I calmly suggest that you just create things that you like and cut out the rest of the world as a middle-man to your happiness?

I'm a voracious reader. I watch a little TV. But the key is in balance. I also strive to be a voracious creator and to make time each day to create things that I think are wonderful. If other people think so too, that's great of course, but it's not why I do it.

So that's my New Year's wish to everyone that reads this. Make some time each day to create whatever it is you think is wonderful (write, blog, code, compose, draw, paint, sculpt, construct, design, {your favorite creative verb here}). Don't worry about what you create being judged. Create for yourself. It helps your flourish. It makes you more human.