I was thinking about how the point of reading isn't to literally 'internalize' what you've read. When you're engrossed in a piece of literature, you don't remember the specifics of the last page you read. What's more important is what the book is doing to your mind as you read -- it triggers a set of processes that force you to imagine and therefore form connections that you haven't made before, even if subtle and unrelated to the content of the book.

It's the same with writing. Writing isn't just a way to produce a good piece of writing, it's what the process of writing does to your brain as you think aloud, connecting words and sentences together. The same with painting, gardening, and organizing your stamp collection. The final 'product' isn't actually important. The significance lies in the process of immersion from the creator and the people who witness it.

> Personal transformation is as significant, if not more

I would include personal transformation. I think it should be clear that my point is not against "production-oriented pastimes" in any way.

> It's about doing for the sake of being.

Yea, this is totally aligned with my view too. I'd just note that being is not separable from becoming and changing.

I'm afraid you either didn't read me well, or I didn't write my intended sense well, or both. But I think we are pretty much in agreement in any case, assuming I understand what you've written here :D