Yesterday, I was driving my crew's buggy around at work and got the word to head out to the warehouse...I pulled up to the gate, where I was forced to sign in with my badge (a.k.a. cattle) number. As the man at the gate handed me the clipboard, I noticed something funny: I was not looking at a sign-in sheet, but hand written lyrics!
The last line read
"I want to be free"
Hmm...
I don't blame the guy. There's very little to love about being an industrial construction worker. Whatever PR bullshit the higher ups try to feed us ("YOU are the hands of the company!") everyone knows that we are only numbers. Hell, I get that speech from my general foreman every morning - affirming that they can replace him (and us) in a heartbeat, so follow the rules!
We're actually standing in the way of profit. We are expenses and liabilities; we are irritating necessities. Yet we are the ones who keep the damn lights on.
The work we do is grueling, dirty, and aggravating. Is it any wonder that the guy at the gate is trying to exercise his creative muscles, and the words he ends up with are "I want to be free"? The fact that he does it in secret may indicate shyness about his creativity, but it also may indicate an environment hostile to creativity.
It's so easy to go home, kick back, turn the TV on, and forget that you have good ideas in your head. They've mastered the dopamine in us, but only because we've let them. When I turned 29 (recently), awareness of my temporality began to bubble up from the depths, and now I am trying to get things done. However talented or capable you are, mind without action is no better than mindless action.
Do you want to stay at the warehouse gate forever? Or do you want to be free? Don't let your creative muscles atrophy. Exercise them. What are you doing with your time? How much of it do you waste? How much of it is spent crafting something truly valuable to your life?
As Jordan Peterson (one of my favorite public figures) says -
"If for ten years, you didn't avoid doing what you knew you needed to do...what would you be like?"
The act of placing responsibility for your own achievements upon yourself is something that's nearly been lost. It's true that I work in an environment that I can't stand, and we're all just numbers, and the guy who is three guys above me is an asshat. But they have spent years perfecting control mechanisms that break our spirit and control our deepest desires. All we have to do is step out of them. Bitterness about unfair circumstances is often a way of avoiding responsibility.
This is not an argument for complacency, though. Keep the fire alive. If you find yourself getting bitter, channel it into a solution; don't let it consume you. Don't complain, take action. After all, I'd sure rather be sitting by this river, contemplating my next move, than doing their dirty work.
Well done, a great post that just may inspire a few.
The question is, why are you stirring us up and then being so vague about what you are doing to make your life worth living?
He tried writing (maybe ) a poem or lyrics; you? It can be anything...learn to weave grass baskets, if that excites you, learn how to grow a vegetable plot for healthy food for yourself, family and friends, read books that help you grow. Keep your mind open to ideas and possibilities to start something that gains you independence.
Husband of my niece worked for a telephone company. He started doing panel beating (repairing the body of cars) at home at night and over the weekends. He soon had so much work he was sending people away. He refused to give up his job, it was his 7 to 5 safety harness, guaranteeing he can feed his children.
Then his boss called him in and ordered him to train, over two months, his assistant, for his assistant to take over as his new boss. He told him to do something very nice to himself and walked out.
He now employs two people and built an extra closed garage so that he has one just for the spray painting.
All it takes is, develop your abilities, ones you have examined yourself and know in which direction you want to go and then, have the guts to make a start while still working. Sure, it means no evenings before the screen and relaxing weekends. You can do those things once you reach my age...and have the money to sit back and let your past successes and sweat pay for your present.
Anything less is a betrayal of yourself
As far as being vague - I should spend some time writing about what I do. I mention here that I'm a musician, but there's little in detail about my audio production. I also mention a bit here about decisions I have made for my health and financial situation.
But to answer your question - I was in school and quit after reading books my James Altucher, Charles Hugh Smith, Tim Ferriss, and others. I realized that working for someone else in order to maintain security in today's world is actually a terrible idea; that working for yourself is the only way to ensure you paid a fair share; that traditional power structures are crumbling and your own ideas can contribute to a brighter future for all of us.
As a musician, I'm ultimately most interested in telling the truth in a way that people haven't heard before. I really wasn't capable of doing this because my wife and I were in such bad financial shape. So I sucked it up and decided to do what I hated: come out here and work this job. This way, we can hopefully buy land and a trailer within a year. I won't be pursuing a degree (though I am working towards some Cisco and CompTIA certifications, because they interest me and they're useful).
The goal is to ultimately be as self-sufficient as possible, but in a way that we can also effectively interact with others and the marketplace. If anyone is going to take artists, homesteaders, etc. seriously, they're going to have to be more than just outsiders.
So I want to create music that gets people thinking, be self sufficient, work for myself, and help others do the same. My wife and I are working on parallel paths to make it happen. For now, it starts with a job that pays enough to get what we need.
I hope you both succeed.
I had already seen your post about music and made a comment there too...
At a time when I wanted to buy some land and grow my own healthy veggies and fruit, I thought of going to rich people and telling them I can supply xxx people, but I will only do so for those who sign up, so that I know how much to grow. They are welcome to visit at any time so as to see that everything really is organic.
I would not be cheap...I feel they should pay extra so that I can also provide food to a few poor families. without it bankrupting me.
Instead, I used my money to buy and run a creche, where I changed the diet of the kids so that they have no sugar, no low fat (etc) but lots of fresh organic foods. It drove me bankrupt, but it was a beautiful experience.
:)
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