Creative Devotion in a World of Infinite Feeds

Every day we’re bombarded by infinite feeds of content — scroll a bit and there’s always something new clamoring for attention. It’s easy to feel like if you create something and it doesn’t go viral on those feeds, it doesn’t matter. Lately, I’ve been pushing back against that notion in my own life. I spend hours making music that (for now) almost nobody hears. I write blog posts that might get a handful of views. And you know what? It’s incredibly freeing. This is what I call creative devotion: creating for the love of the craft and the personal meaning it brings, rather than for likes, retweets, or algorithmic boosts.

When I sit down in my little home studio to work on a new track, I’m not thinking about how it will play on Spotify or whether it’ll impress anyone. I’m fully in the moment, chasing a melody or tweaking a synth because it just feels right. It’s almost meditative. In those moments, the endless social media feeds feel a world away. I’m reminded of being a kid building something out of Lego blocks — totally absorbed in the process, not caring if anyone else sees the final result.

Choosing this mindset wasn’t automatic; I had to consciously disconnect my creative process from the expectation of external reward. At first, I’d catch myself thinking “Maybe I should post this, maybe this will get some attention.” That’s the dopamine trap talking. Now I often hold my projects close, at least until they’re robust enough that feedback won’t sway why I made them in the first place. It preserves the joy and authenticity of it.

The funny thing is, by caring less about the imaginary audience, I find I produce better work. It’s more honest, more experimental. Some of my favorite tracks or ideas have come when I knew no one else would hear them — it gave me permission to take risks and be true to myself.

If you’re a creator feeling burned out or disheartened by the endless chase for attention, I encourage you to try this kind of devotion. Create something just for you. Immerse yourself in it. Let it matter deeply to you first. It’s a quiet kind of fulfillment, but in a noisy world, it might be exactly what we need.