Introspection is a Necessary Mess

Thanks to MAINGEAR for speeding up everything for us. Check out the VYBE line that’s making up the core of Matt’s new studio -- and use code CREATE for a free additional year of warranty on desktops: https://maingear.com/ref/656/ Join Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecreateunknown If there’s one thing everyone’s got, it’s an opinion, and you’re probably pretty clear on where you stand for most things. Whether it’s Matt’s laundry-list country songs or the chugging distorted guitars of Kevin’s favorite music, you know what you do like and what you don’t. But have you ever really stopped to think about why? This week, we’re here to get you to at least try. First, though, we kick off the episode by talking about the strange time of year between Christmas and New Year’s that Kevin has given an affectionately vile name. People generally don’t expect much of you during this week-long span, but we talk a bit about the serious grinding we’ve been up to through it all. After that, Kevin starts off our discussion by talking about some of the difficulties he has articulating some of his thoughts. We talk about how easy it is to have an opinion on something, and the surprising lack of people who take that next step to figure out WHY you have it in the first place. Then, we take that and evolve it into the topic at large for this episode – introspection. When you start to think about your motivations for liking a thing, it gets a whole lot easier to understand not just yourself, but the world around you as well. We get into just how important that process can be, how it relates to famous auteurs like Wes Anderson, and how much of a difference it makes when you inevitably face some change in your life. We round out the episode by looking into the new year, and how we can apply all this going forward. You really have to think about whether or not you’re even trying to know who you are, or if you’re not even interested at all. Kevin talks about the mental exercises required to grow that “muscle,” and Matt gives us a clear set of steps that’ll help you reach the optimal end-goal. Thanks to everyone who supported the show in 2023 – exciting things to come in the new year! You love anime. You love tea. Get 10% off your order with code CREATE at The Dragon's Treasure: https://www.thedragonstreasure.com/ Buy our T-shirts: https://www.thecreateunknown.com/store/ Join our Discord to talk with artists, creators, and fans of the finer things in online life: http://discord.gg/tcu Apple: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownApple Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownSpotify Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/TheCreateUnknownGooglePodcasts CREDITS:  Hosts: Kevin Lieber and Matt Tabor  Produced and Edited by Ben Webster "Created in the Unknown" theme by Basswaite: https://linktr.ee/Basswaite   Theme by Mega Drive → http://megadrivemusic.com   Opening Animation: Kidmograph  City Animation: Eric Langlay  "The Create Unknown" is produced by Unknown Media.  CONNECT WITH US:  » Chat with us on DISCORD: https://discord.gg/qAQV3Jw   » Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/createunknown   » Follow us on INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/thecreateunknown   » Follow us on FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/thecreateunknown   » View our website: https://thecreateunknown.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices