What if money were no object?
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robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I hung our with professional jugglers a lot 25 years ago especially in New Orleans. I loved the juggling the unicycling the passing clubs particularly and still do but I knew I was not good at working a crowd and that is the essence of professional juggling. I remember one mate that could do 7 clubs with tricks which was pretty special in 1985 and yet another mate could just do 5 balls but was brilliant at working the crowd and made far better money. It's a great way of life though if you can work it.
the best thing about the job is the large amounts of free time, which is great if you use it to learn or make things, or spend time outdoors enjoying nature, but not so good if you spend it in front of the tele. glad you we're a club passer, that's where the real juggling's at.
Like Robin , I consider myself very fortunate to be living my own dream but it took me 15 years of rubbish jobs before I had the courage , or madness , to jump! Oddly enough it was when I got the child and all the commitments which prevent many from following their dreams that I made the decision to do it.
That was 15 years ago and I consider myself blessed.I guess I have become more philosophical and subscribe to the "Pass the goodwill on" theory where a favour should not be returned to the giver but passed on to a new recipient with the wish that they too should pass the favour on to someone less fortunate. The theory is that each spontaneous act of philanthropy will generate a wave of goodwill which can improve the lives of an infinite number of people. When you think seriously about it the logic is inescapable.
Lottery win not necessary.
Cheers , Simon
That was 15 years ago and I consider myself blessed.I guess I have become more philosophical and subscribe to the "Pass the goodwill on" theory where a favour should not be returned to the giver but passed on to a new recipient with the wish that they too should pass the favour on to someone less fortunate. The theory is that each spontaneous act of philanthropy will generate a wave of goodwill which can improve the lives of an infinite number of people. When you think seriously about it the logic is inescapable.
Lottery win not necessary.
Cheers , Simon
A simplistic and patronising video far removed from most people's real options.
I was once told that the way to a good life was to find something you liked doing and then find someone to pay you for doing it. Real life usually gets in the way of the two necessary searches.
I was 59 before I found what I wanted to do when I left school:retire.
I was once told that the way to a good life was to find something you liked doing and then find someone to pay you for doing it. Real life usually gets in the way of the two necessary searches.
I was 59 before I found what I wanted to do when I left school:retire.
Its a nice idea full of lovely hippyish sound bytes and I'm sure there's a percentage of the population it will work for, I generally enjoy my work as a carpenter but there's crap days as well.
Someone has to work in sewers though eh? It needs done.
I'm giving his outlook a 4/10.
Someone has to work in sewers though eh? It needs done.
I'm giving his outlook a 4/10.
No, but the governement doesn't pay you for your needs until your that old. So you could retire earlier but you'd still need money.
I'm almost 16 and my dream is to be a full time bushcraft instructor, although it is more likely that I will become something like a field bioligist, which seems fun too
but not as fun as doing your hobby as a job.
Been thinking about these things quite a lot lately...
Shambling Shaman
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I took a pay drop to move in to the estate worker role (from fire alarm/extinguisher engineer) then took another drop to move to where I am now. Never been happier.
Its when you get state pension, at my age I can have one at 65 I think? but I've two private ones on top and get one now at 58.
I won't be able to draw a pension from the government until I'm 62 (67 if I want the full pension) That said I do draw two separate retirements form two previous employers:
1. A military rtirement form the Air Force and
2. A Florida State retirement from my secong career as a cop/corrections officer.
Or we confusing a government old age pension with a proper retiement from an employer? Oops, never mind, I just saw this page with the answers.
This guy isnt very realistic.
I live a pretty responsibility free life, but I have had to give up so much for that.
No relationships, no children, (I have had few pets in my life, much as I have loved having the ones I did.)
I spent what little money I do have on a house. (and lets face it, being secure is a great thing.)
Which means I have missed out on a lot of things you take for granted. (No fancy holidays, for example, and most of my things, both essentials and toys are secondhand.)
I would be like to be freer of possestions. (The house is a big bind; will be even more so when I go to Uni)
I live a pretty responsibility free life, but I have had to give up so much for that.
No relationships, no children, (I have had few pets in my life, much as I have loved having the ones I did.)
I spent what little money I do have on a house. (and lets face it, being secure is a great thing.)
Which means I have missed out on a lot of things you take for granted. (No fancy holidays, for example, and most of my things, both essentials and toys are secondhand.)
I would be like to be freer of possestions. (The house is a big bind; will be even more so when I go to Uni)
I have a friend down in the South West of France. When I'm down there, I have a very basic way of life, that mostly revolves around doing running repairs to our "house" and woodshed, trimming the trees, and preparing food then eating it. Sometimes I make a knife or something else with the basic tools I keep down there.
One day we were talking about life in general in the countryside, though only 12km away from the nearest town (of around 7400 people). He said "there's too much stuff, too many possessions and objects in peoples' lives... you can live with very little, can't you?"
I thought about that for a moment, and the thought I had has stuck in my head ever since. He had an image of me as being quite detached from material possessions and from pressure and stress because he only saw me when I was out in the country, washing in cold water, cooking on a wood-burning range or out in the garden over charcoal (that sometimes I even made there, rather than buying it), no electronics, no complications.
I said "it's easy to like with very little, when you know that whenever you want something you can get it almost straight away".
I lived in Paris all year round, relying on the infrastructure of rails, roads, electricity, water, the networks of production and distribution that have grown over the past four thousand years of European civilisation, and now complemented by global networks. Out there in the country there was this image, a mirage, of simplicity because the complex networks are hidden by 12km of fields and hedges, woods and streams... but still available to me whenever I "need" to drive into town to pick up a bag of lag screws or a 12mm drill bit.
Watts seems to be saying "detach yourself from this avaricious drive to obtain material possessions, and you will be happier", without giving much in the way of practical advice on how to achieve that kind of detachment... His other talks give a philosophical approach to obtaining that detachment, but I think that at some point we have to face the fact that we live in a money economy, and without at least some money in your pocket it is very hard to live a tolerably comfortable life.
But at the same time it's important to maintain a good balance in life. Between on the one hand working to earn what is necessary and enjoying both the material comforts that money can bring, and on the other hand keeping enough spare time to be able to relax, watch the clouds scud across the sky and the birds fly.
I could probably ramble on about this for hours... about ambition, stress, heart disease, food, delayed gratification, hope, confidence... but I should stop. My daughter finished the last of the breakfast cereal this morning and the last of the milk; there is no meat in the house, a load of clothes to wash and a few shirts to iron.
And I have a nice block of robinia pseudoacacia waiting to be turned into a knife handle, and another knife waiting for me to make it a sheath.
One day we were talking about life in general in the countryside, though only 12km away from the nearest town (of around 7400 people). He said "there's too much stuff, too many possessions and objects in peoples' lives... you can live with very little, can't you?"
I thought about that for a moment, and the thought I had has stuck in my head ever since. He had an image of me as being quite detached from material possessions and from pressure and stress because he only saw me when I was out in the country, washing in cold water, cooking on a wood-burning range or out in the garden over charcoal (that sometimes I even made there, rather than buying it), no electronics, no complications.
I said "it's easy to like with very little, when you know that whenever you want something you can get it almost straight away".
I lived in Paris all year round, relying on the infrastructure of rails, roads, electricity, water, the networks of production and distribution that have grown over the past four thousand years of European civilisation, and now complemented by global networks. Out there in the country there was this image, a mirage, of simplicity because the complex networks are hidden by 12km of fields and hedges, woods and streams... but still available to me whenever I "need" to drive into town to pick up a bag of lag screws or a 12mm drill bit.
Watts seems to be saying "detach yourself from this avaricious drive to obtain material possessions, and you will be happier", without giving much in the way of practical advice on how to achieve that kind of detachment... His other talks give a philosophical approach to obtaining that detachment, but I think that at some point we have to face the fact that we live in a money economy, and without at least some money in your pocket it is very hard to live a tolerably comfortable life.
But at the same time it's important to maintain a good balance in life. Between on the one hand working to earn what is necessary and enjoying both the material comforts that money can bring, and on the other hand keeping enough spare time to be able to relax, watch the clouds scud across the sky and the birds fly.
I could probably ramble on about this for hours... about ambition, stress, heart disease, food, delayed gratification, hope, confidence... but I should stop. My daughter finished the last of the breakfast cereal this morning and the last of the milk; there is no meat in the house, a load of clothes to wash and a few shirts to iron.
And I have a nice block of robinia pseudoacacia waiting to be turned into a knife handle, and another knife waiting for me to make it a sheath.
Good post Keith.
I agree that we have too much stuff in our lives and we are constantly bombarded with exhortations to acquire even more. When we get it the expected satisfaction lasts a very short time and it's on to the next 'must have'.
I do think it is possible to at least semi-detach yourself from this desire though. There is nothing wrong with trying to do this while at the same time occasionally taking advantage of the bounty civilisation provides. As you say, balance is the important thing.
I agree that we have too much stuff in our lives and we are constantly bombarded with exhortations to acquire even more. When we get it the expected satisfaction lasts a very short time and it's on to the next 'must have'.
I do think it is possible to at least semi-detach yourself from this desire though. There is nothing wrong with trying to do this while at the same time occasionally taking advantage of the bounty civilisation provides. As you say, balance is the important thing.
What is a simple life style? One free of goods, chattels etc? I like my gadgets and gizzmo's, I like to book a cheap flight and bugger off, I like to take the wife out and eat a nice meal etc and yet still consider my life simple. A complex life to me is a life full of worry, remove the worry and life regardless of possessions or 'life style' becomes simple.
