The CC Ratio: Creating vs. Consuming with Troy Michael

I've gotten quite a few new followers lately, so some of you might not know who I am. If that is the case, let me introduce myself, I am Brian Paris, and the project is pretty simple: I take people out for a meal and conversation and then do a little writeup about it. So here we go with this week's post.

Had a busy weekend, so this is a delayed It's My Treat writeup. On Friday, I went out again with Troy Michael. This time we went to Guido's Bar & Grill. T-Rex (just made up this nickname) is still recovering from his kidney surgery last year, so he can't walk for long distances, but he has been working on getting back up to speed and walks most every day. It was great that he was able to make the walk from where he is staying in downtown. This is the first time he has made the walk to meet me. Proud of his progress.

Food was good as usual. Got some Mozzarella Sticks and then sandwiches. Troy got a Club Sandwich switched out with a French Dip sandwich roll. I got a cheeseburger. It was nice that they were able to accommodate the changes to menu items, but I expect nothing less from my favorite team of servers, Hunter and Megan.

Had a little bit of a dark start to our conversation. I mentioned that I have a very slippery bathtub shower. If I were to ever slip in there, it could be days before anybody noticed that I wasn't around. That was kind of morbid, so I picked up a shower mat to keep it safer in there. $10 well spent if it saves me from a fall.

But after that, the conversation turned to the main topic. Both Troy and I both want to do creative things, but we sometimes get distracted by TV or social media. I call the balance between Creating vs Consuming the CC Ratio. The goal is to spend more time creating than you do consuming. Troy does a good job of painting every day, usually a couple of hours twice a day. Four hours of creativity is great, but it is easy to get distracted. Sometimes a quick check of social media can turn into hours of wasted time. Then you wind up kicking yourself for being unproductive.

TV is my addiction. I have cut way back, but it is still hard for me to control. Earlier this year, I had to go cold turkey and stay away completely. Since then, my viewing time has increased. Might need to give it up completely again. While it is easy to get down on myself, Troy reminded me that it is important to not get too down on myself. So, we will both have to continue to do the best that we can, be happy when we are creating, and be nice to ourselves if we slip up.

Thanks, Troy, for your good company and conversation. Proud of your progress with your fitness and impressed with all the paintings you are getting done. Looking forward to seeing a show of your work when it happens.

While I love having meals with Troy, I've done a few with him and would like to get a little more variety for the It's My Treat write-ups. So, if any of you reading this are up for getting a meal sometime, please contact me and we can set something up. PS. I got a little bit of a haircut. Ha.