finding direction

gandhi is credited with saying, speed is irrelevant if you're traveling in the wrong direction.

he is so right.

i frequently marvel at mainstream america - for many reasons. one of them is the trend toward excess: larger houses, a car for every family member, a tv in every room, $700 handbags...and all the stereotypical possessions that scream stereotypical success.

let's back up. i must first confess that i'm so not mainstream. my grandmother raised me; my pedigree is dubious; i learned to drive when i was 10; i like girls; i don't have cable. i've been accused of being a luddite; i am an engineer.

ergo, i have trouble relating with the masses, and it precludes my membership into the target market. i just ain't buyin' what they're sellin'. my thought patterns don't match up; the quest for "more" has little appeal. more takes money to buy. more takes money to insure. more takes time and money to maintain. more takes up space. more takes time to clean. more takes time to put away.

more is a drain on my resources.

let's talk resources. money is a resource - a renewable resource. if you want more money, you can simply work more hours (or hours at another job). but then you are too busy working to have time to play with your stuff, so what sense does that make?

the real trouble is - and this is where most people fail to make the critical connection - time is also a resource. and it's not renewable. i repeat: not renewable. it's not a large cognitive leap to recognize that time is invaluable.

so while mainstream america will wake to their alarms, scurrying off to their jobs to pay for more, i'll be enjoying my latest bout with "retirement" - the time i take off between gigs as a reward for living below my means. i'll get enough sleep, take some hikes, sip on lemonade (hmm...it's cinco de mayo - maybe i'll have a celebratory margarita at lunch), go for rides on my bicycles and motorcycle, volunteer, learn how to cook a new dish, and many other things that i find meaningful and bring me pleasure.

this may not be the way of the masses, but it works for me. and in my determination, that's the best we can do: spend our unknown allotment of life in a thoughtful and deliberate way.