Between Meetings & Meals — Episode 012
The shift from watching to creating
The Pour
We picked up a bottle of Rabble at H-E-B this week.
It was one of those aisle decisions. Good price, around twenty bucks, and the label caught our attention right away. That’s usually enough for me to give something a shot.
We got home, opened it up, and poured a glass.
It was good. Really good. Smooth, easy to drink, the kind of bottle where you look at each other halfway through and already know you’re going to buy it again.
But that wasn’t even the best part.
Anisa noticed a QR code on the label and decided to scan it. It opened up a camera app and told us to point it back at the bottle.
When we did, the label came to life.
A whole animated scene played out right there on the bottle. A volcano erupted, sound came through, everything. It only lasted about ten seconds, but it was one of those unexpected moments that just made the whole experience more fun.
We finished the bottle and immediately said we should probably stock up on it.
And that could’ve been the end of it.
But a couple days later, we were out at dinner.
Anisa said she wanted a glass of wine, so we started scanning the menu. Nothing really stood out at first, just the usual names you see everywhere.
Then under “interesting reds,” we saw it.
Rabble.
And without really thinking about it, we both knew that’s what we wanted.
It was the first time it felt different ordering wine. Not just picking something familiar, but choosing something we had actually experienced and enjoyed.
It wasn’t about the name.
We just knew.
The Table
We were in San Antonio this weekend and ended up at Magnolia Pancake Haus.
It’s one of those places that feels right as soon as you walk in. Good energy, packed but not overwhelming, and you can tell people go there because they enjoy it.
The food lived up to it. The kind of breakfast that makes you slow down a bit and stay a little longer than you planned.
But what stood out to me wasn’t really the food.
Alanah and I recorded another video for her YouTube channel while we were there.
That part has been fun on its own, just spending time with her and helping her think through what she wants to create. But what caught me off guard this time was what happened after.
She edited the video herself.
And not just basic edits. She was adding effects, playing with timing, having fun with it. You could tell she wasn’t just following steps, she was starting to understand how to make something that felt like her.
I’ve probably watched that video ten times already.
And every time, I catch myself smiling a little.
You can see the confidence building with it.
The Edge
I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between consuming and creating.
It’s easy to fall into consumption.
Scrolling, watching, taking things in. There’s no effort required, and there’s no shortage of things to look at. You can spend hours doing it without even realizing where the time went.
I catch myself doing it too.
But watching Alanah work on her video, it felt different.
She wasn’t just watching YouTube.
She was building something for it.
Taking an idea, figuring out how she wanted it to look, experimenting with edits, adding her own touch to it. You could see her thinking through it, making decisions, trying things just to see what would happen.
It wasn’t perfect, but that wasn’t the point.
She was in it.
And it made me realize how big that shift is.
The gap between consuming and creating isn’t really about skill or tools.
It’s just the decision to move from watching something… to trying it yourself.
Once you cross that line, even in a small way, everything starts to feel a little different.
The Lesson
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with consuming.
That’s where you get ideas. That’s where you find things that inspire you.
But if it stops there, it doesn’t really go anywhere.
The part that sticks is when you take that next step.
When you try something.
When you make something.
When you put a little bit of yourself into it.
It doesn’t have to be big.
For her, it was a short video.
For us, it was a bottle of wine we decided to try, and then recognizing it later because we had actually experienced it.
Different things, same idea.
You don’t really build anything by just taking things in.
At some point, you have to do something with it.
And when you do, even in a small way, it starts to show.
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