Privy...

I feel like shit right now. It's one of those 'once every five years' colds. Typically when I get sick I get really, really sick for a day or two and then I'm good. This one sucks though. I think it's primarily from overall stress over the past few years and more so the last few months. All I know is I feel the need to use a drill and bore into my sinuses to relieve the pressure.

Nothing extraordinary going on in my life though. I'm getting a bit restless about it. I've come to terms with a lot of demons in my life and I don't feel nearly as guilty as I have in the past. I think about the guy I bought my boat from, Rob. He's one of those people you meet in life and you know it was for a reason. Something that he said to me a few times is that we all need to start taking care of one another. Simple statement that wouldn't even make a good Facebook motivational picture, but the more and more I think about it, the more and more I realize that we are all in a sad state of affairs. We are driven by money and possessions. On the topic of charitable causes, I still question how we can be so naive to think that donating money is the best thing we can do to help others. Some may argue that money allows things to be bought and services to be rendered to help those in need. Such as the recent disaster in the Philippines. When it comes down to it, the people on the ground over there could care less about how much money is being passed between hands when all they see is the death and suffering of loved ones. Why does it cost money to physically help others? Why should it?

Charity is big business. Probably bigger business than for-profit ventures in some respects. We can see the IRS filings for the Red Cross and how much the top dog makes. Something near a half-million a year... But yet the Red Cross is heavily reliant on volunteers? Pisses me off really...

I think I've used this blog title before this year and probably has the same basic theme. It seems that people like to not only hoard money and resources, they also like to hoard information. I was seeing a girl for a short time who trains working dogs from puppy to full grown adult. In general conversation I asked her a simple dog training question. 'What's the best way to potty train a puppy...?' Her response to me was 'I don't talk about these things unless I'm getting paid, so I can't say.' Really, bitch? Is sharing your knowledge of how to a keep a dog from pissing all over the place really going to hinder your credibility? We're on a date anyways... what am I going to do? Take what you say and go sell it to all your potential clients?

It brings me around to the idea of loving what you do, not for the income potential, but for the satisfaction you get from it. I'm not privy to any information, even if I paid top dollar for it. Why should I be? If someone wants to pick my brain for knowledge of flying an airplane I'm not going to be an asshole about it just because they aren't paying me for it. If someone wants to know about my experience about opening a small restaurant, same thing... Chances are, people won't take me seriously anyways and disregard what I have to say so I have nothing to worry about.

I'm saddened more and more when I see what greed and money is doing to people. We spend our lives living for a paycheck and we might be able to find some time to enjoy the time we have with others. Why does 'what do you do?' always command an answer of a job or career? How cool would it be to live in a society where that question is never asked in such a way. Why can't we just 'be' who we are?