In a previous blog entry I talked about the movie Office Space and how it struck a chord with me years ago and how, in time, the movie became a cult classic. I realized I was not the only one who saw the absurdity of many office environments not by a long shot. It seems there are legions of us, we're just quiet about it 'cause it makes us look bad. I used to think it was my lack of a stellar work ethic but now I'm proud of myself for having a work ethic for work that makes sense and is important to me. In the movie, TPS reports are synonymous with the tedious meaningless paperwork of the office environment":
"the "TPS report" has come to connote pointless mindless paperwork, and an example of "literacy practices" in the work environment that are "meaningless exercises imposed upon employees by an inept and uncaring management" and "relentlessly mundane and enervating". According to the film's writer and director Mike Judge, the acronym stood for "Test Program Set" in the movie" -Wikipedia-
Since then there have been cartoons (Dilbert) and lots of blogs and other stuff written about the subject. There are so many people out there these days who feel the same way. Just today I overheard a conversation between a young looking 40ish woman and her friend, who was discussing early retirement from her legal profession. She said she kept her license active just in case. She looked very happy and relaxed. She also happened to mention that she spent her early career making money and now she just makes bread. How wonderful.
I have also been a fan of Ernie Zelinski for years now. He is an educated man, an engineer and has an MBA, but has no tolerance for a lot of the ridiculousness and constraints of a regular job. He began to see this when year after year he was asked to accept cash instead of taking a vacation because they needed him at work. He started to wonder where his life was and where he was headed so he took an unauthorized vacation, got fired then got started on his real life, writing books and enjoying life. With lots of scary cash strapped years in between then and now, he writes about it and makes a good living. See The Joy of Not Working and others for some inspiration.
Unfortunately, many people don't stop the way he did, they go on with this craziness their whole lives and don't realize the toll it is taking on their personal life. I believe this is what's behind what we call 'mid life crisis'. It's when someone realizes that they've missed living their whole lives and put all their life energy into work. Just think about how sad that is. I've spoken to people who are heartbroken when their work place starts to push them aside in favour of younger, more energetic and talented new staff. It's just business after all, but what these people gave to their job was far greater than they ever thought. They expected that the reward would be worth it, but when they look back at all the time they missed with friends, family and taking time to keep themselves happy and healthy, they realize the true price they paid and found it was not actually worth it. Then they have to play catch-up in middle life, and you never really catch up. Trying to re-capture a lost youth in middle age is just plain sad and futile.
One thing Ernie talks about in one of his book is that people who just can't stand the absurdities of the average workplace have certain things in common, he calls it being organizationally averse. Love that description. As for me, it was in a mind-numbing federal government job that gave me the courage to go back to graduate school to get a masters degree. The best decision I have ever made. I literally couldn't stand the thought of spending my whole life in that kind of a job. While some people love their jobs and even love their organizations, there are those that find the routine and monotony of the cubicle life soul-annihilating.
Then there's Tim Ferriss of 4 hour work week fame. He couldn't bear the colossal waste of his valuable time. So he now works his butt off, just like Ernie does but has a rich life besides his work. And he gets to make his own schedule etc. He now has an amazingly successful career.
I have to mention here that there are people out there who love the work environment and all that goes with that routine. I spoke to a woman just a few months ago who is in marketing and can work from home everyday if she chooses and set her own schedule but she goes in to the office almost everyday because she loves the structure, the camaraderie and the atmosphere of the office. So there are all kinds out there, its just that those of us who had 'organizational averse' tendencies were often looked down upon as being the ones who were somehow lacking when in fact we are probably in the majority and need to respect our needs to find work that suits us.
Here's a tree from my walk today... one of many like this. Love trees.
This shot from the ferry terminal last week on my 'commute'. What a gorgeous evening. Starting to feel like spring.
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Hope
One of the things that most intriqued me when I first started coming over to the islands to visit were these arbutus trees (called madrone or madrona in the US). They grow in mediteranean climates and must be near the ocean. They have red bark that looks like it's peeling all the time, it loses its leaves in summer oddly enough and has white flowers and red berries. It remains green all winter.
Whenever we go for a hike around the island, as we get close to the ocean, there are many of them especially in the cliffy hilly areas. All twisty and colourful, they make great backdrops for pictures. It's really hard to believe that they only grow here on some parts of the west coast. When we went to Orca's Island in the San Juan Islands a few years ago there was one road in particular that had arbutus trees lining the side of the road for a mile or so. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
It's amazing how different the vegetation is here on the islands, it really is what they call a mediteranean climate. So different from the weather to the east. They can grow entirely different things here. The first time I saw a monkey tree in Vancouver I couldn't believe it!
Some of them were absolutely huge, they look like cactuses or jungle trees. And I've actually seen palm trees here too. At the ferry terminal on this island there is a palm tree about 6 ft high.
This summer I'm going to make a point of taking pictures of all the plants and trees that are new to me and maybe share them here. So wonderful.
Hope
This is a picture sent to me today of an east coast family member's back door during the snowstorm they are having!! And it's not over yet!!!! This is what sometimes makes me nostalgic for those snowed in days and weekends when this kind of a storm arrives and it's kind of cozy as long as the power doesn't go out and you have a decent size house to hide out in. You are at risk for cabin fever the smaller your living space is. The sound is muffled and the snow keeps the heat in the house (it's the best insulator) so its toasty warm and silent. However, when it's over you have to go out and spend hours and hours shoveling, backbreaking work, and that I don't miss at all!! But during the storm it's kind of fun.
On the other hand.......this is what's going on in my neck of the woods. Hard to believe it's still Canada. Yes, we have daffodil shoots coming up and I've been feeling, hearing and seeing signs of spring. The geese are honking at night (mating I guess), the tree frogs are waking up ( what a wonderful sound) in the city some of the plum trees are blossoming and it's staying light later at night, til about 6pm. This is the time of year when the west coast is such a contrast to the rest of Canada. The older I get the more I appreciate it. Winter was not hard for me to manage when I was younger, in fact I loved it, but now it its different.
Really appreciating our weather this weekend.
Hope
This is a picture I just took while out for a drive today just a few minutes ago, it is a very common sight around here and one I thought I would share. She sweetly stopped and looked while I jumped out of the car to take the picture. On any given day I will see around 10 deer while out for a short drive to the store or whatever. I'm not kidding! They are everywhere!!! And fairly tame too, a lot of people leave food out in their yard, especially in winter, for them to nibble on while the food is a little scarce. There is much discussion among the islanders about whether or not this is a good idea. Some say that people should not feed them as it will keep them hanging around the houses instead of foraging more up in the less populated hills and that they are more in danger from becoming too dependant on people instead of their own resources. Others feel that they need a little extra help during the winter months. Hard to say really. Another issue that is discussed is whether or not to 'cull' the deer or allow hunting at certain times of the year. They say they are way over populated, unnaturally so as there are no natural predators on the island, and that something has to be done. They are on the road a lot and get into people's gardens so much that they need to erect very tall fortress-like fences in order to keep the deer from eating everything in the garden. Almost nothing is safe. On a neighbouring island there are a different breed of deer which are even more aggressive, knocking down fences and absolutely ruining even fairly large farms. To me, the average newcomer or visitor, they are just sweet and charming and so nice to have around. This is what happens when you become a resident. You have to be more considerate of the real life consequences of things. This isn't just a pastoral scenic vacation spot anymore, its real life. Learning more everyday.
Hope
A few years ago I decided, after much research, to begin managing my own money. That meant signing up for my own trading account with a brokerage firm. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I have never exactly had a bad financial advisor who mismanaged my money in an obvious thieving kind of way, but after I began to learn about investments, the stockmarket and all that it entails, I realized that simple is better and that I could do as well or better than they were for me. Another thing I realized is that the whole setup is geared to make them and their organization money. Nothing wrong with that but most of us don't realize that they take their share of your money first and we get the rest. I want all of it for myself especially if I am willing and able to do the work to invest my money.
It is not for everyone, I realize. I've heard stories of people investing too much of their retirement money, for example, in tech stocks or something like it that they thought for sure would go up, only to find that they lost a lot of their money. I'm not rich so I don't want to lose any if I can help it. As Warren Buffet says " first rule of investing is: don't lose the money, second rule is: don't lose the money". Sounds obvious but it isn't. People are so sure they can make a fortune with one good pick on a hot tip, but too often it fails miserably. I, on the other hand, am almost too cautious, although I'm not sure that there is such a thing in investing. As I've mentioned in a previous post I read a book called Your Money or Your Life a few years ago and it changed everything for me. The main author was a financial advisor himself and saw the corruption and self-serving nature of the investment business and vowed to get out of it. So he saved hard and invested it all in totally safe investments (in his case it was bonds which were more lucrative at that time) then he left the business and spent the rest of his life educating people about taking charge of their own investments. This book made such an impact on me and really hit home about some of my very personal values. I am so glad I read it.
Unlike him, I can't afford to retire yet, but I am doing my best to plan for that. Last year I took some of my money out to pay for some of the renos we are doing. This is money well spent as far as I'm concerned. This house will be really wonderful when it's all done. The rest I am investing in mostly low cost index funds and bond funds that are pretty safe. I also occasionally take a chance, with a small amount of money, on a business that I think is fairly safe but going through a downturn for some reason. So far this has been a workable strategy for me. Everyone has their own plan, you have to know what you are comfortable with.
The first and most important step is to educate yourself, I used the website investopedia to begin my learning and found it very helpful.
As we've all discovered in the last few years, the financial industry is largely there to protect their own interests and make themselves more money. As a wise person once said, 'no one cares about your money more than you do' . So true.
Hope
I've noticed something since I've moved here.....winters are easier to bear on the island! I don't feel as down as I have in past years in the middle of february. I've been trying to figure this out because everytime I go back to the city I notice how cold and gray it looks. By contrast the island is still almost as green as it is in summer, maybe moreso because the grass always turns brown from the heat and dry of summer. Where we lived in the city there were only deciduous trees and in winter it was quite barren looking. I remember one year after coming back from a wonderful two weeks in Kauai thinking that my city was so damn ugly and grey. Usually I rhapsodize about it's great beauty but I just looked around after the contrast of Hawaii and I couldn't believe it. Our island isn't as fantastic as a tropical island but but it's better than the city. Another plus.
Watched the movie Groundhog Day as is my usual ritual on groundhog day. Love that movie on so many levels. I need a reminder every year.
In the middle of a terrific book called When You're Falling, You Dive by Mark Matousek. It's the first book I've read that is written by and about someone who has been through tragedy and is managing to live a rich life. He asks the question what are the common factors among people who have been through so much and have managed to not only survive but thrive and live a more meaningful life. Most books that are written about being 'an artist of life' or about getting the most out of life are generally about maybe getting through a divorce or some other life challenge. Not to minimize that kind of suffering but a real tragedy is something else completely. Many people think that when you've been through real tragedy, you are permanently scarred and don't really recover. From my own experience, I was stunned to find out how many there were like me, who had been through a lot and don't really talk about it because it's just too hard for others to hear about it so we just quietly go about life. Only our friends and family know. Quiet courage. Anyway, I am enjoying this book so much. I'll share more when I'm done.
Hope
