Thank You

[Twelve]

Hello Steve, Erin, and everyone who reads this.
I want to say thank you for being the courageous people you are and sharing so much with so many individuals.
I was always asked by so many people what I wanted to be when I grow up. Well, I'm 23 now and I'm not an inch closer to an answer. I've considered lots of different kinds of work, but all of it seemed either too hard to get started in, (novelist) or too far out of alignment from my own life, (wage slave).
I've acquiesced to living at a low level of awareness for most of my life, primarily out of fear of what may happen if I choose my own path. I'm all too conscious of the fact that I'm not living the life I want. So I've taken a step, and I am hoping to god that it's in the right direction.
Yesterday I quit my job. I've got about $1100 saved up and I'l be working there for probably another month saving up a bit more. My bills come to about 500 per month so I can't just sit around being afraid. I've chosen this path on purpose in order to motivate myself to finally do something with my life. It's way too easy to do nothing and live mooching off of other people, and I really don't want to do that anymore.
So I wanted to say thank you to all the people on these forums, but most of all to Steve and Erin because your words have meaning to me. Thanks for living consciously. Thank you because I really didn't know if it was possible until I found my way here.

[Twelve]

I also wanted to throw out a few of my ideas to see if anyone has any comments on them. Reading Steve's post a couple days ago about money and social value really opened my eyes and was a big factor in my choice. I realized that I had been mooching off of people for most of my life without really realizing it. I contribute a bit from my day job, but my heart just isn't in it. I know if I get desperate I can always get another job, but I would prefer to contribute in a more valuable way. Doing something unique and powerful. I feel I am in some respects an inventor. I've always been fascinated by how things work and it really fuels me to understand the workings of society or anything physical or abstract. I love puzzles and the scientific way of viewing the world, but I am no stranger to spiritual experience. Most importantly I would say I'm open to anything. OK all this was just so you know me a bit better. My ideas are all based around contributing value:
1. Begin a weblog. I have this feeling that there is a lot to learn, and even though I'm pretty tech savvy, I've been out of the loop for a while and honestly never really knew anything about web pages. My plan is to call it "the Midnight Philosopher" and to be a kind of social conscience and platform for understanding. I may turn this into a podcast because I fell a lot of the information would have more relevance and power if you hear it being spoken.
2. This was actually a second kind of webpage aimed more at exploring my creative work, I plan on learning to express myself in all areas that involve storytelling,(drawing, acting, writing,) This would include not only fictional stories but also real stories from my own life.
3.Well I don't really have much for the short term and I guess thats what I was hoping someone could help me with. Primarily I would like something that allows me the most time to focus on the more long term ideas. One of the main reasons I quit my job is that I would tend to get called in a lot more hours than I really wanted to work. So minimal is better and I really down't mind if I don't make much, survival is fine for now.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Believe it or not, I am going through sort of the same thing. I haven't quit my job yet because I do not want to leave before I have my foot on the ground, but it's not that I don't like my job, it's just not enough to fulfill me. I've been keeping a blog regularly for over six months now and it's really helped me figure out what I want to do with my life, write, perform, have inner peace, and to have no fear. Don't let obstacles stand in your way, you can live consciously.

[Twelve]

Thanks Andrew. It helps knowing I'm not the only one in the world going through something like this. And by the way, hey I started a blog, just check out my sig.

[Adrienne]

I am working on a similar issue right now.

I love to have things to do. I dislike to be watching TV, people watching, etc because I love to actively participating in life rather then watching other people live theirs. I am pretty much balls to the wall busy for months on end, day in and day out. It’s not untypical for me to be up and gone before 6 and not get home until midnight. There are also a couple nights a week I don’t even get to come home. I know I made my life this way, and I really do like it. My issue right now is, I want to spend more time growing my business. However, I look at what I need to do, and I don’t see where I can get the time from. I am already down to under 5 hours a sleep a night, a couple nights a week, I don’t even get to sleep.

Everything I already do is important enough that I do it, so I can’t cut it. And I really can’t cut out anymore house work lol

I have been thinking about this issue a while, and I think I am starting to see a way. Steve once wrote a blog entry about all the different aspects of life, and how you can choose a couple different aspects to work on at once, the others might slide a bit, but that is ok because you’re pulling the other ones up. Once the aspects you were working on are more in line with your goals, then you can work on pulling others up. Reminds me of a constant juggling act.

I realize that I try and do it all without letting anything slide except for possible exception of fun and recreation. Now, I have fun all the time, with everything I do, however I don’t do anything just for the sake of fun (except read, but even recently I have been on a nonfiction kick).

I know what I need to do is cut time from an area, and just let that are coast along riding the wave of momentum it is on for a couple months.

This also led me to the realization that I need a break. I need a break bad. I have been running around busy for 80, 90 plus hours a week for over a year now. I even have been running around crazy on holidays.

So good luck Twelve and good luck Andrew and good luck everyone courageous enough to take it on. To quote a favorite philosopher of mine “The universe had damn well back me up” (for those you who don’t recognize that, its once of my favorite Steveisms)


Adrienne