Budapest!

May 22, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Buda pescht

Amazing city!  Not too many stories so far butI love it.  So beautiful, so much history, learned a few words in Hungarian so far. Helped an old lady step up on the sidewalk and learned the word ‘kussenem’ – thank you (might be spelling that wrong).

The food is full of carbs but loving the goulash, the pasta, the potatoes… bring it on.

Speaking of food…  I’m out the door.

Here are some very quick pics from my iphone, no camera yet.

http://picasaweb.google.com/libtuck/Budapest

Szia!

Intentional Slavery

May 8, 2009 at 8:58 am

I often refer to the Corporate World as intentional self slavery.

We are taught to go to school and to get a “good job”.  Little boxes on the hillside full of ticky tacky.  What does that mean?  We shrug our shoulders and don’t think of the next step.  Unless someone tells us to do something, we sit still.  One of my favorite movies is Idiocracy.  On the surface, it’s an absurd comedy.  Looking deeper shows a devolved society. The further we ‘advance’ the less we think for ourselves.  Consider the smartphone, which many affectionately call the dumbphone.  When is the last time you asked for directions? How many times have you asked Siri where a dead body is hidden?

Do you wait to cross the street until the little guy turns from red to white, and even animates walking, until you step your foot off the curb?

Never dumb down your dreams, question everything that is around you and why it exists.

One day, one of my last days before freeing myself from the office (to pursue Beer2Buds), I saw a girl’s cubicle.  She had some plants, some decorations, and a huge lamp.  I said “wow, that’s a lot of stuff” to which she replied “yeah, isn’t it great, I got the lamp from my living room.  I figured since I spend so much time here, I might as well make it comfortable.”  Decorated office cubicle - say no to corporate slavery - Anywhere Entrepreneur

No, it’s not great.  It’s sad.  It’s one thing if you were there because you wanted to be there.  But, unbeknownst to you, you’ve become a victim of willed corporate slavery.  Do you ever get tired of rush hour?  Do you ever ponder why you are intentionally part of the flock of sheep that jams up the freeway or subway at 8 am and 6 pm?

And if you have all of this time to decorate your office, why in the world are  you not creating a LIFE for yourself.  Don’t settle for what is in front of you!  A pet rock is still a rock.  You can decorate a jungle gym and pretend it’s a castle but at the end of the day it’s still a cage.  I’m not saying don’t make the best with what you have.  I’m saying don’t limit yourself because someone else defined you.  YOU define you.  You have the ability to create your life, why choose to decorate your cubicle?  There are pictures of your kids on your cubicle walls because you can’t spend enough time with your family.  You have plants and a giant lamp because you want to feel like you’re in your living room.  We even have casual Fridays so that you can wear jeans.  Feel like you’re at home yet?  It’s a trick!  Humans were not meant to be in cages.  We are free insomuch as we give up all of our freedoms.  Our freedom is an illusion.

We are given the carrot or the stick from which to choose.  It used to be that, as free human beings, we were ruled by the stick.  We were forced into slavery, to serve others, by violent means.  Now, all someone has to do is say – Hey, I’ll give you some money, we’ll give you a health plan for all your stress, we’ll even offer daycare, give you a ping pong table and free soft drinks.  Voila!  That’s not such a bad deal to trade for your daily sacrifice from 8-6, including your long commute, to be away from family, friends, your creativity, your routine – all to fill someone else’s pockets and to help them buy time.  Do you take candy from strangers?  NO.  Slap your hand.

Beehive of cubicals

Don't let this be you

These things are put in place not so that you have a work-life balance but so that you can stay longer at work.  You can even have a sleeping pod and take a nap.  I hear many people say things like “well, we’re meat eaters, that’s just the way we evolved, so we eat meat” in a Brawndo-style voice “it’s got electrolytes” (Idiocracy reference).  Applying that to freedom – we once used to be free to roam the earth, to find and make our own food, to create businesses, to play when we decided we needed a break.  Have we evolved into cubicleville?

There’s never been a better time to reach deep inside and pull out your creativity.  Look past the cubed wall, question what exists around you, don’t listen to others who are trying to pull you into their world because it’s safe and comfortable, and reach into your knowing soul.  Free yourself from the corporate grind.  What does that mean?  What will you do now?   You were taught to fear so you wouldn’t think for yourself; so that you’d stay.  It will all work out so long as you choose to break out of slavery.  Life is too short to spend in a corporate jail cell.

Morf!

May 8, 2009 at 8:57 am

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that things morph.  Just getting out there and doing it is the most important thing.

Sitting and waiting for the perfect time… it will never come.

I love this Chinese proverb:

When is the best time to plant a tree?  20 years ago.  What’s the second best time?  Now.

Losing fear, making a commitment, putting a plan together.  Set the dates, stay committed.

Everything else falls into place.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

 

Libby’s diet tip

May 7, 2009 at 4:23 pm

I just stepped on the scale today and noticed I had lost weight.

Want a diet tip?
1. Go to Central America
2. Drink the water