When I asked my friend Bob about his view on money, he replied with these words of moderate thought.
That was back in grade 12 when I really had very little concept of the value of money. At that point my only real reference was almost abstract in nature. I had been raised to believe that it was better to give than to receive; greed being next to the root of all evil - a love for loot. Abstract because for all intents and purposes i had everything i ever needed. To quote Dylan Thomas, I was living "golden, in the mercy of his means". (Fern Hill, 1945)
My then 17-year-old brain would, as it learned in electronics class, "take the path of least resistance". As a result, I didn't really 'get' why one should save some shekels...after all, if it's just sitting there, it's extra, right? Having extra when others have less, or none seemed to me to be greedy. After all, to sit on mass wealth just to have it IS greedy, right?
I grew up in a time of prosperity. Right before the crash of the 80s, we'd moved. The house we sold fetched more than the house we bought, so we never experienced the "21% mortgage". I was 10. After that, for the most part its been easy... downhill.
I was 38 at the time of our most recent serious economic plummet.
I was il-prepared, to say the least. I'd never experienced "no cash flow", and hence learned the hard way WHY you should have a stash of extra cash. The cash can and will stop - eventually.
Two years of little-to-no income put me in a sad state - economically and emotionally. It has been a good lesson to have learned - driven home far more effectively than had i simply read about it - however it would have been better had I paid more mind to the advice given me by those who had either been there, or were wise enough to understand that economic downs are indeed real, and do indeed affect far more than your own personal standard of living.
I've been slow to blog about this, and reluctant to share the more personal side of it, for obvious reasons. But what's more, I've generally been sharing less and less of even the happier moments in life - which is yet another consequence of an economic struggle. (My best guess is that so much of my energy is directed toward resolving matters of economic survival, very little remains for much else.)
On the upside, there is a plan in place - one that goes against my grain of following the "path of least resistance", a painfully slow and seemingly plodding repair.
My biggest personal challenge is to keep on the radar the less-immediate: other people, recreational pursuits and those things spiritual that are indeed requisite and necessary for the good of the soul.
In closing, to address Bob's concern about having "...so much money I have to worry about it", I simply feel that at this point it's a problem I wouldn't mind having - after all, first-hand experience far outweighs casual observation.
I'm sure you've experienced it, regardless the career you're in. There are aspects, jobs and contracts that seem to stand out from the regular and everyday. I was forced to think about this a couple weeks ago when I was faced with a conflict. One of my suppliers offered me a week's wages to work on a project out of town - 6 hours north-east, actually. It meant possibly missing one of my favourite events, Davefest.
I had been anticipating the 12th. annual ever since last year. What was especially exciting was that I was prepared to play... er... and sing.
So along comes this opportunity for some significant work, and for a company that I know and love - not to mention a company that seems to have a real interest in establishing a long term working relationship.
It appeared to be, quite literally, an either/or choice. It's sad in a way, but really the money trumped the freebee. Trouble was, I really, really, really wanted to do BOTH.
Turns out that we caught up to the other trades at this project and couldn't proceed, quite literally until they'd built another wall which wasn't going to happen for another week.
My wish came true. I made it to Davefest!
What's more exciting is that these photos were taken, and all I had to do was show up!
I'm lovin' the Yamaki nestled in with various other guitars!
From my perspective, at the back of the theatre.
When you're new at something, it's a really nervous feeling that comes over you when you present it in front of the masses. My Mom came out too, which really pleased me because I haven't had a chance to play and/or sing in her presence for some time. One of the stories she often tells is that of when I was in my early teens. I was to sing a solo at the church, and I flubbed it. Not miserably, but it was highly embarrassing. This, I suppose, was an opportunity to avenge a memory.
My sister's family came out, too. My BIL made a point of saying,
"Who knew David could sing??!"
Some days I surprise even me.
OK, Editor's note: My last post was published after Blogger went to this new format, and A/C mentioned something about my absence from blogging affecting my sense of paragraph form. I just had a quick look at a preview, and although I have spaces between all paragraphs, the entire text appears to be fudged into one big block. So much for organizing my ideas, but I think you get the idea.
Any ideas on how to fix this??
