Anti-Wage-Slavery, Pro-Freedom Quotations Of The Week 334-335

i often feel like i was born in the wrong time, or the wrong continent. everyone in this age (and in america specifically) seems wired to wake up early, work work work every day for ultimately hollow shit (newer house, newer car, toys they can't really afford), always multitasking, eating in their cars on the go, just constantly going.

it's too fast for me. i want to sit back and enjoy the day. appreciate art. appreciate music. appreciate the beauty of the world around us, night and day. i like to sit and think, ponder, conjecture... turn things over in my head and deconstruct them, then build them back up again. i like to take time to understand things, rather than just giving a cursory glance, a quick once-over and moving on.


i think people are too self-absorbed and overly practical. they're only concerned with themselves and what has an *immediate* impact on *their* personal lives. they're not worried about the future beyond their own lives or the lives of others unless they're some sort of celebrity.

because i hold these sentiments i worry sometimes about my future, if i'll be able to live well enough and provide well enough for my family, should i have one. i'm just not motivated by the same things most others are. i don't go to university because i want to hold a job with a six-figure salary. i don't want to go to university because it will enable me to have a bigger house or a fancier car.

i go because i want to pursue my passions, because i want to do something i love every day- something i'll never tire of, because i want to lead a full, rich life (rich in quality, not in monetary value) where i'm deliriously happy. and if i can share that with someone, that's fantastic. but at the same time i sometimes worry that it would make me too much of a burden to any significant other. there's this pressure in our society to be a bread-winner, to at least contribute equally to your household. and i definitely wouldn't feel right about having to lean a girlfriend/wife financially.

it's like going to lunch with a friend. you'd like to be able to pay for them all the time because you care about them and it makes you feel good to do it, whether they're down on their luck and are low on cash themselves or just for the hell of it. but at the very least you want to be able to pay for your part of the meal, and you feel pretty shitty when you're unable to (which is why when i'm in that position i just find an excuse not to go out, but that's another story).

so, sure, i'm also self-absorbed... but mainly because i pay close attention to the impact my life has on others, and never want to drag others down. i'd rather be self-sufficient on my own and deal with my own trials and tribulations and not get others involved. and if i'm doomed to live like a "starving artist" for the rest of my life, maybe it's better that i don't detract from any potential mate's standard of living. right?

it just seems to me that we're not meant to live this way. we're not meant to grind out 8-10 hours (or more) a day in a cubicle performing some job function we hate, either because the job itself sucks, the people we work with sucks, or the people we work for suck. whatever the reason.

i think that's why there's been such a sharp rise in psychological disorders like depression. i think it's the cause of many of the ills in society today. but i guess that could just be pure conjecture on my part...

it is inherently selfish of me to want to do something that makes *me* happy. but i have the awareness to realize this and to be wary of bringing someone into my life whom may be negatively impacted by my pursuit to do what pleases me. it seems most people lack that awareness on both accounts- knowing that what they're doing isn't right for them, and/or knowing that it negatively impacts the people close to them (either because it makes them unhappy by proxy or because it makes their lives harder for whatever reason).

in fact, most of the problems personally, interpersonally, and in society at large i think stems from lack of awareness on an epic scale. and maybe that's why we're such busy people. we lack this (self-)awareness and try to ignore it or make up for it by increased productivity. we put on the blinders and charge through life with our heads down, expecting to plow our way to the top through sheer determination.

and the people with that kind of drive/ambition generally do make it to the top. it's almost a requirement to "make it"...


while the people who lack it end up struggling to get by.


but who is happiest? and who wins in the end?


this is the crux of my internal conflict on what to major in- what to do with my life. i greatly enjoy physics, but i'm not amazing at it. i also recognize that while intensely interested in it, it is not my passion. i'm naturally adept at psychology and find it very intuitive... i've been wooed constantly over the last 3 semesters to change my major to psychology because the department sees potential in me- but i'm not terribly interested in it.


and then there's my true passion: music.
Daniel
we are very busy people.



Joseph Campbell: My general formula is "Follow your bliss." Find where it is, and don't be afraid to follow it.

Bill Moyers: Is it my work or my life?

Joseph Campbell: If the work you're doing is the work that you choose to do because you are enjoying it, that's it. But if you think, "Oh, no! I couldn't do that!" that's the dragon locking you in. "No, no, I couldn't be a writer," or "No, no, I couldn't do what So-and-so is doing."

Bill Moyers: In this sense, unlike heroes such as Prometheus or Jesus, we're not going on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves.

Joseph Campbell: But in doing that, you save the world.



Joseph Campbell: Each incarnation has a potentiality, and the mission of the life is to live that potentiality. How do you do it? My answer is, "Follow your bliss." There's something inside you that knows when you're in the center, that knows when you're on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you've lost your life. And it you stay in the center and don't get any money, you still have your bliss.