Have you ever stopped to ask yourself where your attention goes — and who decided it should go there?
We hear it said all the time, “Pay attention!” But few people ever question what that actually means. In school, it meant handing over your focus in exchange for knowledge — a kind of transaction. Attention was treated like currency, but nobody told us it could be stolen. Or squandered. Or invested with intention.
Now, in the age of infinite scroll and algorithmic addiction, that same attention is being extracted — mined like a natural resource from the rich soil of your mind.
And creative people are feeling it worst of all.
Creative People Are Burned Out — But It’s Not Your Fault
If you’re a maker, a writer, a musician, or an artist, chances are you’re running on fumes. Not because you’re lazy or uninspired — but because your attention has been hijacked. The platforms that once felt like playgrounds now feel more like trapdoors. The dopamine hits keep coming, but the joy is gone.
You’re expected to constantly produce, share, perform — and somehow stay sane. That’s not sustainable.
Let the Ground Rest
In farming, there’s a practice called letting the field lie fallow. Every few years, a field is left untouched — no crops, no chemicals — just time. During that pause, the worms come up, the fungi spread, and the nutrients rebuild. What looks like “nothing happening” is actually quiet restoration.
You are the field.
If you want to grow new creative ideas, you have to rest the ground. That means reclaiming your attention from the systems that drain it, and giving it back to yourself — slowly, deliberately.
Attention Is the First Creative Act
Before you make anything, you attend to something. You notice. You observe. You turn toward. That first spark of noticing is sacred — it’s how form begins to take shape.
But in a culture of distraction, your attention gets pulled in every direction until there’s nothing left to give.
It’s time to change that.
Before you make anything, you attend to something. You notice. You observe. You turn toward. That first spark of noticing is sacred — it’s how form begins to take shape.
But in a culture of distraction, your attention gets pulled in every direction until there’s nothing left to give.
It’s time to change that.
What You Can Do (Right Now)
• Delete the apps (even temporarily). Take social media off your phone and see what shifts.
• Notice what you notice. Begin to track what holds your attention and what drains it.
• Feed the soil. Read books. Walk in nature. Let real, grounded experiences refill you.
• Trust the pause. Just because nothing’s visible doesn’t mean nothing’s happening.
Join Me in the Fallow Ground
This is why I created Fallow Ground. It’s not just a name — it’s a model. A resting place for creatives in a burnout culture. A space to reset, reflect, and rebuild your creative life from the soil up.
If you’ve made it this far, maybe you’re ready too.
Not to give up — but to pause with purpose.
Let’s walk this path together.
The video has been re-uploaded to the intended edited version.