Is Consistency the Measurement We Need for a Life Well-Lived?

Redefining Authenticity in a World Obsessed with Algorithms and Productivity

Consistency is the bane of my existence, and I think the same is true for a lot of artists in this digital age: one controlled by algorithms and implemented with AI. We are organic beings living more and more in a robot-ified world.

With the rise of social media and the exploitation of productivity on knowledge workers - especially through the pandemic - art has become polluted with expectation and calculation. If artists don't create and publish on a timeline, our work is often not seen. Quantity is celebrated over quality. Consistency is prized over authenticity. Brands and businesses promise exposure and "free" products in exchange for "content," instead of paying for the full package of human-infused creative labour.

I don't think I'm alone when I say that it's a weird time to be living in.

As a writer, photographer, and self-love coach, I naturally pivot between multiple layers of expression, and find it increasingly challenging to fit myself into a calculated box. From my own experience, the more I've tried to fold myself into the expectations of the status quo, the more I've felt an impact on my mental health. Within the confusing, unpredictable world of algorithms, it feels like so many of us are blindly throwing spaghetti at walls and hoping that something sticks. When it finally does, what was the magical ingredient in the tomato sauce? More often than not, it's a question that we'll never know the answer to.

Mount Baker, WA - Shot on 35mm film