No Easy Task
Being a content creator is not an easy task, and so today I'm reminding myself to have some grace on … me.
Yes, me.
Content Creators - people who create podcasts, YouTube channels, content for social media, books, blogs, and various kinds of art forms.
It's not an easy task because everyone has an opinion about what you should do and how you should do it.
You wouldn't think this is the case, but it is.
AND.
People (very often) think that you should do it for free, that they should be able to consume whatever art or work you create without making any sort of personal or financial investment.
About 6 months ago, for instance, I had a medium on the podcast. Why? Because over the previous year I felt like my grandma had visited me on multiple occasions. Like this one time I was mowing my lawn and I smelt her perfume outside.
Perfume?
In the middle of the Summer?
While I'm drenched in sweat?
With grass clippings stuck to my face?
Pollen blowing everywhere?
Yes, it was a distinct smell that I'll never forgetand I smelt it outside, more than once.
Anyways, so I came across a book written by a women who is a PhD and identifies as a medium and so I invited her onto the show so that I could ask her MY questions.
(Emphasis on MY QUESTIONS.)
No sooner did I announce her episode and my direct messages started to notify me that people who previously hung on my every word didn't approve of my guest.
"You want to question, hell? Fine. You want to push back on the atonement? Great. But now you're having a medium on your show? You're headed in a crazy direction. You're gonna get duped by this woman. I thought I knew you better than this. I'm concerned for you."
People started to accuse me of using my platform to "get more followers" and said that I was "exploring topics" that would just get a rise out of people and more downloads. I tried to tell these people about the experience with my grandma's perfume and my interest in this stuff as my faith and thoughts about God continue to expand, but they just couldn't wrap their mind around me bringing this guest on the show and … that was the last I heard of them.
Same with Tarot Cards.
And the Gnostic Scriptures.
… Whenever I reach a little further outside of my Evangelical bubble to grab a piece of fruit that I was once told is "forbidden", I lose more people.
"What's wrong with Glenn?"
"Why are you exploring this?"
"You've gone too far."
"I'm sure it gets you a lot of downloads."
I'll address this in our January 2 podcast episode (it'll be a solo episode with just me talking about the last 6 years of the podcast - SIX YEARS!), but I'll mention it here too: the What If Project is (and always will be) MY spiritual journey that tackles MY questions and MY interests and MY wonderings.
Yes, MY.
It's not here to answer YOUR questions or get more PEOPLE to listen or more PEOPLE to download or more PEOPLE to subscribe or more PEOPLE to like me.
Those things might happen, but they aren't the goal or what the podcast is all about. Instead, the podcast is about MY story and MY journey and MY questions and I've simply made it public in hopes that it helps someone, somewhere feel less alone and less crazy in their own questions and doubts.
I talk to mediums because I have questions.
I talk to scholars about the Gnostic Scriptures because I'm reading them.
I talk to Tarot Card experts because I want to learn more about them.
I talk about hell and the Bible because I'm rethinking what they mean.
And some of that stuff helps people and some of it makes people mad … and that's fine. My goal isn't to make people happy and my goal isn't to make people angry; instead, my goal is to explore and forge paths and grow and evolve in my own thoughts about God, faith, and all the things.
And, yeah - I invite people to jump onto Patreon to support the show or even make a one time (or multiple time!) donation OR subscribe to my Substack account to get early access to stuff writing projects I'm working on.
Why?
Because I spend about 15-20 hours a week doing this and every time I flip on the microphone or sit down to write a blog post or whatever, I bring with me …
My bachelor's degree.
My master's degree.
My doctoral degree.
My 18 years in church ministry.
… And more.
I do all of this because I love it; but I also need to pay the bills and so if people have found the project consistently helpful over the years and find themselves listening in on a regular basis, then I invite them to support via Patreon or whatever IF (and only if) they have the means to do so.
Some people do.
Some people don't.
… And that's fine - I'll keep going with the project regardless of whether we have 1,000 patrons or 5, but if someone wants to help and can help … the opportunity is there AND is much appreciated by my family.
So, yeah.
Being a Content Creator isn't easy. Everyone has an opinion about what you should do or shouldn't do or should create or shouldn't create and as your platform grows and the voices multiply, it can become easy to …
Lose yourself.
Lose your vision.
Lose your purpose.
… And just create stuff that the majority of people will like OR be attracted to so that your downloads will grow, support will grow, etc.
This post is just a reminder for myself, so that I can go back and be encouraged when I need to remind myself to keep true to myself.
Thanks for being on the journey with me, and for all the people who have encouraged me to be … me.
Much love,
Glenn || MY BOOK || PATREON || BUY ME A COFFEE