Happy New Year!
What are you going to use money for in this new year?
I am going to focus on using money for self-discovery in agreement with my values. As well as exploring my values to a greater extent. In terms of both the earning and making of money. And the spending of it as well. I think most people can see the potential 'soul-searching' aspect of making and earning money. But spending it? Money is usually spent to comfort and entertain. But how often is it spent to discover? or rediscover what has been lost?
Or is the purpose of money to distance us from the discomforts of life? If those discomforts distract the individual from his or her greater purpose, then a good use of the money. If the comforts themselves become a distraction, then maybe the point was lost...
What does money mean to you? Freedom?
What if you woke up and were penniless and jobless? What would you do? What would matter? You would be afraid, but of what? Being homeless? Powerless? Loss of status? Loss of security? A 'real' security or just perceived?
Maybe this loss would actually set you free? If so, free to do what?
I guess that is what I am asking myself this New Year. What does money mean to me? How do I want to use this powerful tool...
I think this is a question we have to frequently remind ourselves of...otherwise we forget the answer.
P.S. This year I need to read the "money owner's manual". We are taught so little about money. As kids we are taught nothing about it. When we get older we are just taught to make it. Love it. Feed it and make it grow. But we are never taught, what it is really for...to what purpose to put it. I think as a society we often make the accumulation of money a purpose in its own rite. And money was never intended to be an end point in and of itself...that's asking too much of it...
Dec 31, 2006
Dec 26, 2006
pain is good
Following a holiday feast, a day of wallowing in comfort, I have to remind myself that pain and discomfort are a valuable part of a balanced life. Pain is a reminder to me that I am on the right path in life.
During training for a marathon, feeling pain and discomfort were milestones that I was on the right path. I felt that when i was running around the ten mile mark. When I hit twenty miles, the pain fell away. I was closer to the finish line, so to speak.
Now, after a year of living 'the party life', it is time to embrace pain and discomfort again and return to a more balanced life. Now I run twenty minutes and I feel the pain, following such a lifestyle for so long. I look forward to getting into shape and rebuilding.
A great book that hits on this stuff is called, Toughness Training for Life.
Discomfort can come by choice or from an external event. In terms of an individual's lifestyle, for example, change and discomfort may be forced upon an individual as a result of a bad diet leading to diabetes. Personally, I would rather choose a healthier alternative, a lifestyle change, rather than it be forced upon me.
Jack Trace talks about this in his latest post regarding oil consumption, climate change and our society's lifestyle, rather an the individuals lifestyle. But what is our society's lifestyle, but a collection of all its individuals' lifestyles? Very interesting post and worth a read.
Enjoy the discomfort today may bring...
During training for a marathon, feeling pain and discomfort were milestones that I was on the right path. I felt that when i was running around the ten mile mark. When I hit twenty miles, the pain fell away. I was closer to the finish line, so to speak.
Now, after a year of living 'the party life', it is time to embrace pain and discomfort again and return to a more balanced life. Now I run twenty minutes and I feel the pain, following such a lifestyle for so long. I look forward to getting into shape and rebuilding.
A great book that hits on this stuff is called, Toughness Training for Life.
Discomfort can come by choice or from an external event. In terms of an individual's lifestyle, for example, change and discomfort may be forced upon an individual as a result of a bad diet leading to diabetes. Personally, I would rather choose a healthier alternative, a lifestyle change, rather than it be forced upon me.
Jack Trace talks about this in his latest post regarding oil consumption, climate change and our society's lifestyle, rather an the individuals lifestyle. But what is our society's lifestyle, but a collection of all its individuals' lifestyles? Very interesting post and worth a read.
Enjoy the discomfort today may bring...
Dec 24, 2006
A Thousand Roads
One of the best museums I have ever been to is the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.
From the design of the building, to the theater, to the cafe. Everything was done to illustrate and communicate some ideas of indigenous peoples to the modern thinking visitor. The entire experience was touching.
I have always had a profound and unexplained interest in Native Americans as a child. These feelings I have always had returned to me. I had forgotten my interest.
The indigenous peoples of this country are a national treasure and we as a nation can learn a tremendous amount from them. We can learn to appreciate the human place in this world. From the perspective of the environment and how we relate to and support each other. The truth in what we are lacking in terms of community and a sense of place were apparent to me, both in the message from a film and the museum as a whole.
I watched a very well done movie entitled, “A Thousand Roads”. It discussed the lives of several modern day Native Americans from various nations and the trials they faced in our society. The story talked about how we have to help each other through this life. It mentioned how “we lose ourselves from time to time, only to find ourselves again.” It mentioned many things that we don't mention. It seems to me that a spiritual sense of being, of having a place, of having a connection with the earth, of having a purpose was fundamental to the native peoples.
I think the museum's message summarized where we have come as a country and where we may need to go. We still have much to learn from the indigenous people of this land. An ongoing story...
This is where I want to play my part. By consciously spending money to support the things I value. It's really hard I think, to resist that which you desire. That which our system is based, marketing to meet the consumer's desire.
But to have something to work to support, is more valuable to me than not having to work to not support anything. An idea is a reason for being...
For a time I saw little reason in making or accumulating money. My thinking was, “Why? So I can buy a BMW someday?” I just did not see the worth in it. Now I see a reason to make money. To affect change. To improve peoples lives. To possibly make the world a better place.
Dec 20, 2006
Money's Gravitational Pull
I have often compared money to energy. But I am thinking it also behaves a lot like matter as well.
When you keep that in mind and read something such as this...you cannot help but observe money's gravitational pull.
It's almost contradictory. The people with the least money get charged the highest interest rates.
These 'money rules' make for a hording and 'mine' mentality. Cooperation is of less importance. I wonder if this could be compared to the 'nash equilibrium', I call it the 'so great' situation...better to work together.
Is it possible our country has gotten too rich for its own good?
[I reposted a previous post that seems relevant to this issue...the 'screw your neighbor Elmo doll' post...]
PS I'm experimenting with more of a focus, instead of just throwing up random thoughts...(although this thought is pretty random...and self referencing as well.)
When you keep that in mind and read something such as this...you cannot help but observe money's gravitational pull.
It's almost contradictory. The people with the least money get charged the highest interest rates.
These 'money rules' make for a hording and 'mine' mentality. Cooperation is of less importance. I wonder if this could be compared to the 'nash equilibrium', I call it the 'so great' situation...better to work together.
Is it possible our country has gotten too rich for its own good?
[I reposted a previous post that seems relevant to this issue...the 'screw your neighbor Elmo doll' post...]
PS I'm experimenting with more of a focus, instead of just throwing up random thoughts...(although this thought is pretty random...and self referencing as well.)
Dec 15, 2006
fairchild and chihuly
This was really a really cool experience. Artist Dale Chihuly has returned to Fairchild Tropical Garden for a second showing. Paying for and viewing art is always worth the money to me. How do art and money fit together? Is a rich artist out of touch with inspiring experiences or does having money free the artist to focus on what matters...art?
What I loved about the Chichuly exhibit in this garden format, was it brings together a manmade creation and the natural world. In harmony. One complementing the other. To me it represents what we want to do as a society. Perhaps our presence on this planet should enhance it. Embellish it.
One way we can do that is by appreciating such instances when it is done with elegance, grace and beauty. Chihuly pulled it off...
Dec 12, 2006
wanted: forward looking primativists
Is it possible that primativists are actually futurists...they might just not know it?
Primativists think about the basic, animal part of the human existance in its more primal state of being. That of being a top predator. A basic, but very valid and rewarding existence. An existence for an individual that transcends a cubicle, a computer screen and 50 minutes to eat a microwaved lunch...
The primativist wants more from life than health insurance premiums and worring about retirement planning.
How could anyone find fault with the primativist's desire? The unhappy cubicle office worker finds just as much dissatisfaction with their life and the way they are spending it, but they are willing to put up with it. They give credence to the 'deferred gratification' argument while the primativist does not.
The same forces are at work, however, in each player, the primativist and the cubicle dweller. Our privative desires of possession, stability, security and a longing for pretty things got us here in the first place. Our primative desires, linked with evovling technological know-how are putting our existence, quality of life and planet at risk.
Today, basic desires are what propel most individuals within society. Whether the desire 10,000 years ago was for a better axe, or today for a new Imac...desire remains the same. Are not all desires of equal weight?
Good desire and bad desire?
What I think the primativist wants for the direction of society requires a movement forward in human thinking. An evolution of our ideas, our thinking and finally our way of life. If we went back to the primative societies from which we came, we would have to travel the same path as we are on now.
Perhaps the primativist needs to look forward, not backwards. They need to think of what can be, and not what has been.
Our society is evolving, but the question is...are we?
Primativists think about the basic, animal part of the human existance in its more primal state of being. That of being a top predator. A basic, but very valid and rewarding existence. An existence for an individual that transcends a cubicle, a computer screen and 50 minutes to eat a microwaved lunch...
The primativist wants more from life than health insurance premiums and worring about retirement planning.
How could anyone find fault with the primativist's desire? The unhappy cubicle office worker finds just as much dissatisfaction with their life and the way they are spending it, but they are willing to put up with it. They give credence to the 'deferred gratification' argument while the primativist does not.
The same forces are at work, however, in each player, the primativist and the cubicle dweller. Our privative desires of possession, stability, security and a longing for pretty things got us here in the first place. Our primative desires, linked with evovling technological know-how are putting our existence, quality of life and planet at risk.
Today, basic desires are what propel most individuals within society. Whether the desire 10,000 years ago was for a better axe, or today for a new Imac...desire remains the same. Are not all desires of equal weight?
Good desire and bad desire?
What I think the primativist wants for the direction of society requires a movement forward in human thinking. An evolution of our ideas, our thinking and finally our way of life. If we went back to the primative societies from which we came, we would have to travel the same path as we are on now.
Perhaps the primativist needs to look forward, not backwards. They need to think of what can be, and not what has been.
Our society is evolving, but the question is...are we?
Dec 9, 2006
the tip jar
There are no bagels like Miami bagels. I'd even put the NY bagel from NY against a Miamian Bagel.
Never mind the Cubano food, Miami is the place for bagels. I'm even going to bet I can find a top notch New York Pizza place as well...
So I just got back from getting some bagels and couldn't help but notice the tip jar. It is ubiquitous. These things are everywhere.
Have they always been?
When did the tip jars start emerging from the primordial soup of capitalism and start evolving?
There really hasn't been any evolution of the tip jar come to think of it. You would think it would have. Maybe that would make a great coffee book...a drive across the country taking pictures of unique tip jars...
I believe the tip jar and just tipping rates in general are directly proportional to the excesses sloshing around in the economy. How much the 'average system joe' 'Ieconomy' is delivering above his needs. (Nothing against tipping or the servers who need them for a living. All I am saying is the tip jar represents something greater.)
Are tip jars in other countries? Or maybe they are tip pots? Made out of clay? tip urns...Tip barrels in the OPEC countries...and countries with excess hyper-inflation...
During the depression era, how well did the tip jar perform?
I am nominating the tip jar as a leading economic indicator. Are you reading Bernanke?
Wouldn't it be great if system players like Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, starting putting out a tip jar on their desks. For a good economic prognosis and to do a better job, his tip jar would have to be stuffed with dollar bills and loose change (which equates to millions of dollars and stock options when it's run through a highly complex economic algorithm that takes into account all the econometric principles that are beyond you and me...
"Well the tip jar on the fed chairman's desk must make sense, the economic indicators tell us so!"
"The guy name george who is trying to act as a president" would need his as well. His would be the patriotic tip jar covered with American flags and symbols of Americana, like the Haliburton Corporate logo.
The Pope would have his holy tip jar (jewel encrusted with some reproductions of Davinci code painting)...
Dan 'Charlie' Brown, for that matter, would have one. With Dan Brown's, he'd actually have to learn to write in order to get tips however....
Perhaps a cheap street times tip jar? Mine would be a negative tip jar. I encourage you to take something and leave something else. It would be more of a geocache tip jar...
Actually, I have been pondering an 'artistic' way to express some of my ideas. Since I have no traditionally accepted artistic talents (such as painting, writing, sculpting or animal husbandry) perhaps i will take the tip jar thing one step further and actually design them for different people around the world...might be fun...
Never mind the Cubano food, Miami is the place for bagels. I'm even going to bet I can find a top notch New York Pizza place as well...
So I just got back from getting some bagels and couldn't help but notice the tip jar. It is ubiquitous. These things are everywhere.
Have they always been?
When did the tip jars start emerging from the primordial soup of capitalism and start evolving?
There really hasn't been any evolution of the tip jar come to think of it. You would think it would have. Maybe that would make a great coffee book...a drive across the country taking pictures of unique tip jars...
I believe the tip jar and just tipping rates in general are directly proportional to the excesses sloshing around in the economy. How much the 'average system joe' 'Ieconomy' is delivering above his needs. (Nothing against tipping or the servers who need them for a living. All I am saying is the tip jar represents something greater.)
Are tip jars in other countries? Or maybe they are tip pots? Made out of clay? tip urns...Tip barrels in the OPEC countries...and countries with excess hyper-inflation...
During the depression era, how well did the tip jar perform?
I am nominating the tip jar as a leading economic indicator. Are you reading Bernanke?
Wouldn't it be great if system players like Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, starting putting out a tip jar on their desks. For a good economic prognosis and to do a better job, his tip jar would have to be stuffed with dollar bills and loose change (which equates to millions of dollars and stock options when it's run through a highly complex economic algorithm that takes into account all the econometric principles that are beyond you and me...
"Well the tip jar on the fed chairman's desk must make sense, the economic indicators tell us so!"
"The guy name george who is trying to act as a president" would need his as well. His would be the patriotic tip jar covered with American flags and symbols of Americana, like the Haliburton Corporate logo.
The Pope would have his holy tip jar (jewel encrusted with some reproductions of Davinci code painting)...
Dan 'Charlie' Brown, for that matter, would have one. With Dan Brown's, he'd actually have to learn to write in order to get tips however....
Perhaps a cheap street times tip jar? Mine would be a negative tip jar. I encourage you to take something and leave something else. It would be more of a geocache tip jar...
Actually, I have been pondering an 'artistic' way to express some of my ideas. Since I have no traditionally accepted artistic talents (such as painting, writing, sculpting or animal husbandry) perhaps i will take the tip jar thing one step further and actually design them for different people around the world...might be fun...
Dec 5, 2006
entropy lawn care service
The cat got me up this morning. This cat is getting too comfortable around me now...it got me up to the:
“meow meow meow....meow...” cat tune....
I thought, “wow this must be important...major cat issue...maybe a cat burglar is trying to get in.” I mean you can't count on a dog to catch a cat burglar...right? It takes a guard cat, trained to kill...amped up on cat nip!
No cat burglar but I open the door for the cat and...
“wheeeeeeeee.....wheeeeeee”
I set off the alarm for the damn house...I paste post-its to the door i normally open but the cat wanted out a different door...
“stupid cat!”
I ran one way, the cat the other and the dog just sat there...peeing on the floor i think...
Welcome to the world of house-sittiing...where just letting the cat out is an adventure!
The current house sit gig I am on is in Florida. So I've gone from California to Florida. I'm now on the west coast of Florida and going to Miami for another house sit and a temporary cash flow situation. Which will be very useful to rebuild some of the cash cache...
Which is very nice now that I have been motivated (by lack of 'dough flow') to move further down the road to voluntary frugality and self-sufficiency...(free lessons from life..so great...)
Then a return trip to California...
The house i am in now requires a hundred dollar a month lawn care service paid for by the homeowner. (That doesn't include picking up the dog crap...in case you were wondering...)
What does an individual actually get out of lawn care? Does a well manicured lawn really make one's life better? I think the lawn represents entropy. A well kept lawn indicates you are keeping entropy at bay, and therefore a worthy system member.
“Social security number 123-45-6789, move to the head of your system class. Your lawn looks impeccable!”
Just about everything that people see is an entropy indicator.
Your car.
Your clothes.
Your hair cut.
How young you look.
We as humans have a tendency to respect the 'entropy tamers' out there. The business man dressed to the hilt, driving a brand new 'beama' without a speck of dirt on it. There is something primal of our respect for order. We just can't help it. No matter how anti-system you are, a part of you says,
“that guy looks sharp!”
We all want to be anti-entropy.
Thing is...maybe that doesn't jive anymore.
I think desire is connected with an anti-entropy concept.
Primitive man has not a choice in the manner...He has to think, “my life is so on the brink of blinking out. I need to desire to survive. The more I have, the more buffered I am from the ups and downs of this crazy world. The more safe I am.”
We have outlived the usefulness of desire. It's an outdated function of your survival mechanism, much like the appendix, or primitive, violent aspects of your brain. Just like the gill slits and tail that exhibit themselves in your development as a fetus, these traits exhibit themselves in the development of your spirit. The fetus of your spirit...these traits too dissipate much like the gill slits and tail...reabsorbed and redeployed in a more sensible manner as we grow.
Looking 'anti entropy' today just means looking 'system'. Your life can look well ordered, like you have everything together, but your 'real life'. The 'real you' could be a alcohol drinking, Prozac popping, 'shrink' visiting....wreck. The need to keep up anti-entropy appearances, can tear us apart...
When you think about it, the system is one big, anti-entropy aiming machine. That's really what it wants. Order on a mega-scale...
The purpose in your life is coming to terms with the contradiction that is this life. Wanting and needing order and yet accepting that the universe is moving towards chaos. And as a modern man or woman, we have an additional challenge, accepting that the system wants us to be part of its machine like, anti-entropy ways without concern for our personal development.
We are to find meaning and some fun in that mission. I put the emphasis on fun...and keep an eye on the damn cat!
One footnote...
Funny, the 'TruGreen ChemLawn' guy just came to the house to spray. It is amazing how whole industries have evolved to keep your lawn green! Very nice guy...just a guy doing his job...
The TruGreen ChemLawn division of ServiceMaster had over $1 billion dollars of revenue for 2005. A billion dollars spraying lawns! That's just one company and just the lawns they spray. Think about how insane that is...
ServiceMaster has other divisions that specialize in these niche markets. They will spray your lawn, fix you plugged drain, and spray for termites. Maintaining a house is a very expensive undertaking, emotionally and financially...
There's aslo the alarm service industry that I experienced this morning...
“meow meow meow....meow...” cat tune....
I thought, “wow this must be important...major cat issue...maybe a cat burglar is trying to get in.” I mean you can't count on a dog to catch a cat burglar...right? It takes a guard cat, trained to kill...amped up on cat nip!
No cat burglar but I open the door for the cat and...
“wheeeeeeeee.....wheeeeeee”
I set off the alarm for the damn house...I paste post-its to the door i normally open but the cat wanted out a different door...
“stupid cat!”
I ran one way, the cat the other and the dog just sat there...peeing on the floor i think...
Welcome to the world of house-sittiing...where just letting the cat out is an adventure!
The current house sit gig I am on is in Florida. So I've gone from California to Florida. I'm now on the west coast of Florida and going to Miami for another house sit and a temporary cash flow situation. Which will be very useful to rebuild some of the cash cache...
Which is very nice now that I have been motivated (by lack of 'dough flow') to move further down the road to voluntary frugality and self-sufficiency...(free lessons from life..so great...)
Then a return trip to California...
The house i am in now requires a hundred dollar a month lawn care service paid for by the homeowner. (That doesn't include picking up the dog crap...in case you were wondering...)
What does an individual actually get out of lawn care? Does a well manicured lawn really make one's life better? I think the lawn represents entropy. A well kept lawn indicates you are keeping entropy at bay, and therefore a worthy system member.
“Social security number 123-45-6789, move to the head of your system class. Your lawn looks impeccable!”
Just about everything that people see is an entropy indicator.
Your car.
Your clothes.
Your hair cut.
How young you look.
We as humans have a tendency to respect the 'entropy tamers' out there. The business man dressed to the hilt, driving a brand new 'beama' without a speck of dirt on it. There is something primal of our respect for order. We just can't help it. No matter how anti-system you are, a part of you says,
“that guy looks sharp!”
We all want to be anti-entropy.
Thing is...maybe that doesn't jive anymore.
I think desire is connected with an anti-entropy concept.
Primitive man has not a choice in the manner...He has to think, “my life is so on the brink of blinking out. I need to desire to survive. The more I have, the more buffered I am from the ups and downs of this crazy world. The more safe I am.”
We have outlived the usefulness of desire. It's an outdated function of your survival mechanism, much like the appendix, or primitive, violent aspects of your brain. Just like the gill slits and tail that exhibit themselves in your development as a fetus, these traits exhibit themselves in the development of your spirit. The fetus of your spirit...these traits too dissipate much like the gill slits and tail...reabsorbed and redeployed in a more sensible manner as we grow.
Looking 'anti entropy' today just means looking 'system'. Your life can look well ordered, like you have everything together, but your 'real life'. The 'real you' could be a alcohol drinking, Prozac popping, 'shrink' visiting....wreck. The need to keep up anti-entropy appearances, can tear us apart...
When you think about it, the system is one big, anti-entropy aiming machine. That's really what it wants. Order on a mega-scale...
The purpose in your life is coming to terms with the contradiction that is this life. Wanting and needing order and yet accepting that the universe is moving towards chaos. And as a modern man or woman, we have an additional challenge, accepting that the system wants us to be part of its machine like, anti-entropy ways without concern for our personal development.
We are to find meaning and some fun in that mission. I put the emphasis on fun...and keep an eye on the damn cat!
One footnote...
Funny, the 'TruGreen ChemLawn' guy just came to the house to spray. It is amazing how whole industries have evolved to keep your lawn green! Very nice guy...just a guy doing his job...
The TruGreen ChemLawn division of ServiceMaster had over $1 billion dollars of revenue for 2005. A billion dollars spraying lawns! That's just one company and just the lawns they spray. Think about how insane that is...
ServiceMaster has other divisions that specialize in these niche markets. They will spray your lawn, fix you plugged drain, and spray for termites. Maintaining a house is a very expensive undertaking, emotionally and financially...
There's aslo the alarm service industry that I experienced this morning...
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