Consumer vs Creator

When I look at things that I am doing or plan on doing, I ask myself if I will be a consumer or creator. I realized a few years ago that my life changed over from a creator of ideas to a consumer of ideas. TV shows are a good example - they are pure consumer. A group of people get together and create the show (making them creators), but on the receiving end, I am a consumer. After an episode of a show like Buffy or Angel ended, I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The problem is, there is no "happened next" since it is all in the minds of the creators. Why care what these other people think should happen next? Do I not think my own ideas are better for me than theirs? Can I not take the ideas they created and create my own "Next week on" in my own mind?

"Man as the creator" was a philosophy that someone told me about a few years ago. People like to create. People are happier when they create. It is a driving force within us. But consuming is so much easier!

The one that has caused me problems, and maybe a lot of others, is MMORPGs. In these online games, they have a system they have created, a system where there is progress and rewards for doing stuff in the game. They give they illusion of creating something within the gameworld, but really, one is bound by the rules of the creators. So, by playing these games, am I creating or consuming?

This leads to This World. The rules here are not set by me, the Universe does things whether I like it or not. So, anything I create within this world is actually bound by some other creator (possibilities include: society, the earth, the universe, a higher being, etc), which by the MMORPG argument makes me a consumer. So, is it possible to really be a creator? Does this not make all things equal, in a game, in a mind, in a "real world"?

-Edward