Ha! Welcome to the Party! I look at life through a permanently installed Kaleidoscope turning nigh on to 1800 RPM.
Don't you think it's time for another good Ol' Wild Eyed, Pig Kicking, Rambling, Cowboy Sermonizing bit of a Freedom Lovin' Lunatics Rant?
No? Maybe you should click on to a quieter page then... Cuz that's just what's a comin'... and the windiest in a while...
With my brain spinning like a kids top, I get up at oh dark thirty and start making coffee... as I'm putting the beans in the grinder the kaleidoscope shifts from third to fourth gear; ... I wonder when I left that tab from the bagles laying there?... I left my pen in the truck one time... I drove the truck to Idaho... I've had lot's of trucks... was that a duck?... my foot itches... I wonder if ducks know they don't have lips?... could chickens type if they had fingers? I should paint the rig... I used to cowboy, I kinda miss it... the shed payment needs to be made... Do snakes bellies itch?... I can curl my tongue... who invented plaid?... do snakes know they aren't tall?
... all in the space of maybe 12 seconds... and I've still got the WHOLE day, and another night left ahead of me...
SO... if you don't "Get" what I say on occasion? Not to worry... I'm workin' pretty hard to keep up myself some times...
Know this, my thing is, what I say here, truly is NOT a criticism of what OTHER people choose to do in their own lives... EXCEPT... when those choices are imposed/inflicted in negative ways on other people. What you do to or in your own life, is TEE TOTALLY your own business.
I'm just hopeful that somewhere along the way, my tripping and stumbling through this vale of tears called life, will here and there show one or two people a new and fresh way to get around some of the man made obstacles to LIVING.
I talk about money, a lot, not because I place any significant value on it, but because... those that have the POWER in this world DO. Not paying attention to it is akin to painting yourself with the perfume of fresh meat and walking naked through a Grizzly Farm... You can do it ~ But the outcome is likely to be less than profitable.
Now, let's just say right here that I'm no expert on it... If I was... I wouldn't still be battling the damned stuff this late in the game. The only thing I seem to be truly pro-feshunal at is getting myself in one jackpot after another. Entertaining... but over time it does get a mite tiring.
My "thing" with money is... that it's a necessary evil... kinda like government. The world would be best without either, but until some sociological wizard brews up an alternative that goes "Viral" in general serfdom's imaginations... it's the "System" we've got.
So... what am I to do about it with what I've got? Good question... and THAT kicks that damned Kaleidoscope up another notch. Centrifugal force, like a 1200lb sunfishing Bronc, will someday throw that Cowboy whirling off into space...
But for Today? it's just got him playing with ideas... spinning in his mind like one of those pictures of the stars in the Milky Way...
The thing HERE is this... yeah... I could take a "JOB" and do some menial thing for some "Boss"... and I do... and shortly (October)... I'll be doing just that 12 hours a day for most of the month...
But... THAT... is exactly what I've been running against my whole dang life! Busting hump and sweating for the MAN... for $10 or $12 an hour (Which doesn't equal the $1.65 minimum wage of the mid '60's) while he sits in his Cadillac scratching himself is not my idea of a good use of the miniscule time a Cowboy has to roam Free on The Earth.
If that's all there is... then there ain't Nuthin'!
So, until my backbone is rubbin' a hole in my belly... I'm gonna limit, minimize and run in terror from those "job" situations, to the greatest degree that I can. Yeah I'm gonna take 'em here and there, until my efforts at beating that enslaving system into submission succeed... but I'm not gonna tell you it's a Good thing, a Proud thing or an Honorable thing... Slavery, no matter how pretty you paint the lipstick on THAT pig... is STILL... Slavery.
The GOAL... My Goal, is a world of Human Independence and creativity.
~ MY ~ Independence and Creativity... NOT ... an "Honorable Job" as a less-than-1965-minimum-wage-paid-serf, so the man can wander around thinkin' his "Stuff" smells like purty spring flowers.
Boys and Girls... his "Stuff" is Bull Shit... No matter how much lipstick you apply... No Matter how much fancy odor eating aerosol you spray... Striving for a system that pays you less every year while demanding more hours, more sweat, more sacrifice and more of your LIFE... is one thing and one thing alone... SLAVERY.
Am I knowin' the right way? I guess likely not... or I wouldn't still be searching so hard... but there's a few things I DO know about that search;
1. There's no easy way to find "It". Multiple failures along the way are mostly guaranteed... unless you don't try; and that is the worst of the possible failures.
We live in a world that demands perfection without fault. (an idea which is a patented stupidity). ALWAYS make the right decision. Choose the best without fail! Dot all the i's and cross all the t's (even if NOBODY knows where they're at or what the hell they are!) Failure is weakness.
Parsimonious self aggrandizing blowhards ridicule and castigate good people for trying and coming up short. I'd like to have a lil cowboy etiquette intervention with a number of them S.O.B's!
2. One of the Biggest lies and perversions is; "Crazy people take risks. Never take risks." Only problem is; Refuse to risk... and NOTHING happens. Absolutely Nothing... and THAT is the paradox. Refusing risk is THE greatest risk!
3. The whole Idea was to step off and find a Better Way... not keep going back to the Old, Failed way that didn't get it done... If you don't go hunting for it, change doesn't happen.
SO... as I momentarily take a break to catch my air... I look down and see my belly is frayed but no holes yet... so I'm still...
Running Against the Wind
Brian
A broken down Ol' Cowboy goin' RV Boondocking ...
...and Yondering, to the beat of a different Biker Cowboy Drummer
8 comments:
Whew, Taking a short-time gig (I refuse to call it a J-O-B)is not selling out your values. It is just doing what you need to too continue on down the trail. Keep on, keeping on! Pssst, where is that coffee?
The trick is to find something you can enjoy doing that pays...preferably in a pretty or interesting area. Working 6 instead of 8 hours helps too, and only 3 or 4 days a week, and only 3 or 4 months a year. That leaves some time for you to wander and work at your primary job of writing. Problem solved!!! No? Ok, shoot hole in my ideas :)
Everyone has to do it their own way. For me the National Parks works. As a solo traveler (not by choice) I like being around other RVers snd have met some great people. I'm not there long enough to get into office politics and I like the direct deposit of $$ into my savings account. I plan to travel to Alaska for 6 months or longer for "free " by workamping. My rig is smsll enough that on my days off - I go off up into the mountains or to the beach or wherever to get away and see new things. I'll tru to stop suggesting things to you in my comments as I neef to remember that my way is not the only or best way for everyone.
Mark; uh huh, or variations of that idea ;) No shooting holes! :)
Teri! No no no no... Never stop making suggestions and telling why! You don't have all the solutions and neither do I, but your DO fit you and a lot of other people... and there's a lot of other people reading here too that all the suggestions that pass through can help along... so... keep 'em coming!
For the past couple years, I've enjoyed reading your adventures and awesome photos! But the pontificating about money, "stuff", real world careers and working for "the man" is getting old. My suggestion to you is to get off the pontificating kick and start conveying once again to your readers the awesomeness of your freespirit lifestyle. That's why we follow your travels. Also, please keep in mind that some of us have careers we truly enjoy and as a consequence have seldom worked (as you define it) a day in our lives. Many years ago, I chose such a career and for decades my office window has literally been the world. But if a career becomes a job, if a job is all you have or if the time is right, then there is only one decision. In the meantime, don't be surprised if you see an antique motorhome boondocked across the valley from you...
It would be great if we could all "choose a career", one that we loved in an office with a window on the world. Some have to take what we can get. It's just circumstances for a lot of us that sends us in one direction or another and that is not always a bad thing. But...
Things are not what they used to be in this country and that is why a lot of folks are living happily in vans on the BLM or Nat'l Forests. The "American dream" isn't what a lot of folks want these days, partly because it isn't attainable. Working to live or living to work just depends on the person I guess. Not meaning to judge anyone. Wish I hadn't started this ramble cause there's no end to this "pontification"...I'm with you on this one Brian.
Are you sure ducks don't have lips?
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