Some decisions are hard to make.
Heard it Your Entire Life
It's on television, Youtube videos, newspapers, online articles, magazines and even simple everyday back and forth conversation between strangers on a bus.
It's easy to say. More than half of the time, they're just telling you what you want to hear. Actions speak louder than words though. In most cases, the ones offering the advice wouldn't even have the balls to do it themselves. Bullshit artists. Those are common in this day and age.
Not happy? Just change.
In 2013 I had enough of wasting my life.
You'll hear people talk about how we're all slaves to the system and how this life of nine to six(it used to be five, but they stopped paying for lunch breaks) is a waste of our one and only chance to actually live.
In many cases, those people are just bullshit artists too. Talking the talk, never walking the walk. Even here in our blogosphere. If you hate money so much, decline your damn payment when you feel like ranting about it. I dare you.
I Don't Hate Money
Back then, I hated what I was doing to earn money. It wasn't me, I wasn't that guy.
So I said to hell with it. Quit my career and the future it tried to promise me. I lost nothing. I still had me, and this life of mine. The first thing I needed was a break.
I took a few photos of this new life. I had enough money saved up. I should have purchased a proper camera, but I didn't. Instead, I used a $20 flip phone I purchased at a gas station. I needed some sort of lifeline to the outside world because I was always on some sort of adventure, alone. It came equipped with a low quality camera, but I learned after, the photos could not be removed.
These are photos of the photos. I put that screen in front of this camera and snapped away. They're blurry, but I don't mind, and see no reason to apologize for my life.
The first step to the version of freedom I required was:
It was time to start enjoying old hobbies again. That's a Honda CRF450R. It quickly replaced my car as preferred method of transportation.
No, it's not street legal, but do I come across as someone who would give a shit about that sort of thing? We went wherever I felt like going that day. I never felt the need to go sit in a traffic jam though. Those days were behind me.
I spent a lot of time at a lake.
I love kayaking. I'd wake up early, eat a banana or two, and head out onto the water.
I'm about one kilometer away from shore in this blurry photo. Those are massive white sand dunes on shore and off in the distance. Such great scenery out there.
I could paddle for hours, nonstop. I'd eventually hit shore and explore the wilderness for a few hours, or just sit in the shade and eat lunch.
Next is a rare selfie of @NoNamesLeftToUse, The Writer/Artist Himself.
I don't take many photos of myself, but this, I could not pass up.
That's my knee. A pair of cool shades that doubled as dirt bike goggles. My reflection. Just chillin'. Sitting on the beach, having a beer, eating sunflower seeds, taking it all in.
In front of me, not even three feet off shore, a rock.
I don't like to be bored. A rock is somewhat boring. I don't mind playing in the sand. I'll still do it when I'm ninety years old. Never too old to have fun.
So I covered the rock in sand, then built a sand castle on top, splashed it with water to make it look like an old ruin. Then I used some lake foam that accumulates on shore for special effect. It looked like a floating castle on a cloud in real life, and with the right eyes.
People would walk by, admire it. I'd admire them. Welcome to my little piece of heaven. Enjoy your brief stay.
Birds would stop in from time to time.
Sitting on the deck that I built, enjoying my morning. That's a chickadee on my thumb. After a few consecutive morning routines, these birds started to trust me.
All I'd do is sit there, quietly, every morning, holding seed in my hand. On that day, I was wise enough to hold the camera in my other hand. There was no way people would believe me, without a picture. So, I took one.
There's So Much More to Share of a Life Actually Lived
...but we're out of time!
So? Live to be happy, stop being a slave?
Been there, done that, still wearing the t-shirt.
I won't tell you how to live. Tell yourself. I did. Life's good.
Have a nice day.
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