A constant theme that comes up in our discussions is that of work.
We have to eat, we need a place to sleep, we need to clothe our bodies, and we need to take care of others in our familial units (pets included). It is vital to a certain aspect of our survival.
But then there's the other part of survival. The part that happens in the headspace.
Life happens and we happen with it. Events may dictate that we end up in a job or occupation that wasn't necessarily in our Top 5 when we were in 2nd grade. While this situation may be less than ideal, it doesn't have to be a death, or life in prison sentence.
The key is to attain, retain, and maintain that freedom in the head. This can be difficult though while life is happening around you. You are forced, by your boss, to do certain things to maintain employment, that may work against how you feel and think inside. Maybe you need to start making cold calls, when you hate getting cold calls yourself. Maybe you need to start declining more applicants, while you hate it when it happens to you. But if you don't do these things, life will happen much more harshly when the income dries up.
So, much like many things in this world, it seems like being able to balance is key. If you can walk the tightrope and keep your wits about you, you'll make it to the other end. Your aide will be your balancing beam. Maybe it's writing poetry/prose. Maybe it's creating music. Maybe it's sticking your hands in dirt in your back yard. Maybe it's scaling the nearby rocky cliff. Whatever it is, you need to keep it at hand. To keep that headspace open and free.
Because suffocation is simply where you stopped breathing.
Thanks for reminding me of that.
I do feel like I'm suffocating, working for an industry that I despise.
I find my zen in the kitchen so I like to think about different things I can cook while I'm working. Keeps me from hanging myself with my lanyard in the hallway.
Life isn't so bad.
Even if our jobs suck, there's still little things to look forward to.
:)
Some may point to the Sermon of Ethics and Love, and say, "oh, well, then stop."
But some of us know that there are consequences outside ourselves. Some of the choices we have made in our lives are more important that the petty stresses of our employment.
For example, I have made the choice to be able to cook and eat good tasting, fresh food in a well-stocked kitchen with the most beautiful woman in the world.
To make sure this choice of mine continues to exist, I deal with flourescent lighting and humorless co-workers.
I suppose the question becomes, what's your personal cost-benefit ratio?
food
clothing
shelter
its a timing thing as well
you arent gonna feel the same way 6 years / months / weeks / days / hours from now as you do at this moment
there are a bunch of things at work here
familiarity breeds content
absence makes the heart grow fonder
civilization is collapsing
we may or may not have personal responsibilities and missions to fulfill
there are lessons to be learned during all these phases
the only bad approach is prolly to look at anything as something other than what it is - a phase
Quote from: LHX on October 09, 2007, 09:03:53 PM
food
clothing
shelter
Companionship?
After all, humans are fairly social creatures.
companionship is always there
You think so?
Took me 30 years to find companionship.
but it was there right?
Ah, but so is the food, clothing, and shelter.
You just have to go look for it, and negotiate your terms.
i cannot disagree there
its just as inexcusable for somebody to provide obstacles to that as it is the other 3
I met a fellow recently who was entertaining a pretty woman at my darling's pub. We had a conversation and he apparently has never held any sort of regular employment. I asked him how he gets by and he said that he has a cheap apartment ($350 per month), and since he doesn't have TV/Cable/Phone or gas bills, there's really only rent and electricity.
I asked how he makes enough to pay for those things and he replied simply, "Eh, I always find something to do and earn enough cash to pay my bills and hang out at pubs." He claimed that he's never had to panhandle or steal.
I dunno if he was honest or dishonest, but I do think that we could probably get by on a lot less in the way of currency, if our freedom was more important than some of the extras we expect in our society today.
Looking at my own world, if I could handle being in a small apartment, rather than a house with a big yard, I'd save $400-500 a month easily. If I did without cable, television and internet, that would cover another $100 (plus another $100 or so in membership fees to various sites etc plus another 50 in movie and video game rentals), most of the apartments in the area are all electric, so the gas bill (200+ in the winter months) would be out. No cars would save me about $150 a month in Insurance costs and another $100+ a month in gasoline, plus the regular maintenance.
Doing without the Five Fingered Herb of our Goddess would save me about $200 a month.
So, if I cut out all the unnecessary stuff, I'd save somewhere in the neighborhood of $1300+ dollars a month.
That means I could dump this job and pick up on that paid half of what I make now and still live comfortably as far as food, shelter, clothing and companionship. That being said, I'm willing to sacrifice (at least for the time being) my freedom for all of these bonuses.
I often wonder how much of what we think of as 'survival' is really bonus stuff that our society has made into "necessities"... and then I wonder how much we're getting shafted on the price of these not-so-necessary necessities.
:mittens:
mostly, i get my freedom fix from showing people images from outside of their cell.
an impossible card trick, or a cool groove.
this works on myself as well. it's more about the feeling of finding a goal; visualizing the path towards it and taking the action to realize it. i know, sounds like sappy new-ager shit in those terms.
basically- i can have any normal job i want, even a better paying one, or even some "higher purpose" job like teaching or reasearching something important, or some shit. and i can get by with just my knickers, or live a sumptuous life of luxury. and, at any point, those circumstances can flip-flop and leave me ass-ended.
but the one thing i have that's actually free is my ability to choose some task, and do it. from figuring out how a new trick is done, to learning more about myself and others, to learning a language. all it takes is the arbitrary decision to do A, then the actions involved, and various amounts of repetition.
even this can be taken away, or hindered. but it's usually the best bet.
bump, dug this up for MO's thread and there's some good stuff in here that the newer folk might like to see.
:)
If any of you are sincerely looking for a way out I highly recommend this book
http://www.amazon.com/Hand-Sculpted-House-Practical-Philosophical-Building/dp/1890132349
I'd also hyperlink it if I wasn't such a douche
There is a constant turmoil
that swirls and swirls
But I build up walls to keep it at bay.
I effect a landscape that allows me to keep a watch on the outside world
yet
doesn't completely bleed through, swamp, and shut out the view of possibilities
I maintain a space of peace
For me and those closest to me.
I cannot bathe them in riches and fortune
But this small gift
A gift of assurance and fortitude
Is one I have in ample supply.