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What Are You Consuming?

Seldom do we take stock of what we expose ourselves to. Most of us pay attention to our diet, especially when it comes to optimizing our health. We think carefully about the food we consume. But does consumption stop there? What about what we consume with our eyes, our ears, and our other senses?

In a recent conversation with Matt Campbell on the EZ Conversations podcast, Matt shared the Primal 5 Framework he has developed through his therapeutic work and how he uses it to help clients cultivate greater contentment and a healthier way of living. The five pillars of the framework are sleep, social connection, movement, time outdoors, and conscious consumption.

Throughout our conversation, Matt frequently used our ancestors as a point of comparison, illustrating how many aspects of modern life have distanced us from habits that once supported our psychological well-being. Today, there is growing awareness of the importance of quality sleep, meaningful relationships, regular movement, and spending time in nature. Yet conscious consumption remains a far less discussed part of the conversation.

When most people hear the word consumption, they immediately think of food. During the episode, however, we explored a much broader definition. Matt spoke about our constant exposure to news and world events—something our ancestors never experienced. In an age of 24-hour news cycles and endless social media feeds, sensationalism captures our attention, often leaving our nervous systems in a chronic state of vigilance.

This raises an important question: What else are we consuming?

It is a question I return to often. What music am I listening to? What books, podcasts, or conversations am I allowing to shape my thinking? What images am I exposing myself to on television or social media? Just as importantly, what thoughts am I repeatedly planting in the fertile soil of my own mind?

The answers to these questions influence far more than we often realize. They shape how we think, how we feel, and ultimately how we move through the world.

In clinical practice, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy often encourages clients to examine the thoughts, beliefs, and patterns that reinforce emotional distress. As we begin exposing ourselves to healthier perspectives and more constructive ways of interpreting our experiences, our patterns gradually begin to change. The opposite is equally true. If we continually immerse ourselves in fear, outrage, negativity, or hatred, those influences become part of the lens through which we experience life.

Perhaps the most important question we can ask ourselves each day is a simple one:

What am I consuming?

Am I paying attention to what is shaping my thoughts, emotions, and behaviours? Is what I consume moving me toward the person I want to become—or away from that person?

Our attention is one of our most valuable resources. Where we direct it, our lives tend to follow.