Welcome to another installment of Tales from the DAW, a series where I share a project from my digital audio workstation. This edition comes with music, a short essay, and a discussion about the making of the tune.
Sometimes I look at the homeless people around my town and think to myself, “You know, these cats have it all figured out.” Not all of them, of course. Some of them are a complete and total disaster. But a significant subset of them seem like they could pick up an office job tomorrow if they wanted to. Maybe they just don’t want to.
The stoics and the buddhists and the hippies all know that to want is to suffer. To not want is to not suffer. Those of us who dabble with the occasional self help book have probably come across this idea at some point and have maybe even tried an end of chapter activity to put the concept of detachment into practice. Go one week drinking your coffee black; eat only beans and rice for a day; take a cold shower. If all of our worries came true and we lost our jobs, lost our friends, or lost our homes we could be left in a situation with no creamer, no meat, and no hot water. But in practicing that future we realize that we have the capability to withstand such discomforts, making us ask ourselves: Is this the future I so feared?
But some of us who dabble with the occasional self help book have thought, rice and beans? How about sleeping in the municipal storm drain system? This is the true test of detachment from wanting and thus from pain and suffering. There are days, weeks even, when it occurs to me that if I wasn’t so attached to having shelter I could quit my job and get all of my time back, putting an end to a suffering that I admittedly feel all too often.
There’s a conversation that I’ve heard more than once. It manifests around those close to retirement age. Someone will ask an aging coworker if they are going to retire soon and both people inevitably end up agreeing that working is better than not since without work there is nothing to do.
Nothing to do?
Okay, first of all, I’ve gleaned from more than a few retired husbands that being home all day turns into many something-to-dos whether you like it or not. But second of all, have most people not built enough inertia around a lifetime of leisure activities to have those activities become full time occupations once financial independence (i.e. retirement) has been achieved? Think of all the things having to maintain a roof over your head has pushed away from you. Think of the books. Think of the music. Think of the exercise. Think of the freedom. Think of enjoying all of these from inside a giant box culvert in a damp creek bed. That’s the only way I’m going to get the time I dream of having any time soon.
There are other escape plans though. You can build a money making machine. Some call these businesses. Once your machine is self sufficient enough you can step back and let other people work for you. The thing is that success is far from guaranteed and constructing one of these money making machines can take decades of hard work. This hard work usually takes up even more time than a standard full time job and the machine could break down and die at any moment, spelling out the words b-a-c-k-t-o-w-o-r-k.
You can go back in time and be born into wealth. So far we don’t have the technology for a way back machine and even if we did, it’s no guarantee that you won’t have to work. You could be reborn as the atheist child of Dave Ramsey, the financial influencer who will only put his kids in the will if they pledge to manage the money with God. B-a-c-k-t-o-w-o-r-k.
The only other escape plan I can think of is the homeless one. But if we’re being honest, that takes work too. Even without responsibilities you’ll die without food. I’ve been eating a pretty clean low carb diet and that’s probably gonna have to go the way of the house under the homeless plan. Eventually you’ll need new clothes, medical care, and a shower. Living without these things could be pretty depressing so drugs may become a requirement to be able to sustain this lifestyle without suffering. Drugs also cost money so at the end of the day even the homeless option comes with a price. B-a-c-k-t-o-w-o-r-k.
So tomorrow I’ll clock in at my day job. The more I think about it, the other options are too much work.
I talk about the making of Back to Work, sing some Bruno Mars, and reveal my true feelings about AI:
Now that I’m “fully” retired I just had a chance to go back and catch up on these posts I’ve missed. A little consolation for all the real conversations I’m missing. Who knows, video games may be next! 🤣
Back to work NO!!!!