Nice Guys & Wise Guys

 GOD, SELF-PROMOTION, SUCCESS

It's difficult to excel and prosper in the world's systems of commerce and economy.  It ain't easy.  Maybe it's easier for some people than it is for others, but it isn't easy to succeed in the world.  I used to imagine that success would come naturally as a consequence of personal gifts, good character, and human generosity.  Ha!  Fat chance.  Don't nobody give a damn about you and your gifts and nice guy routine.  Nice guys finish last, because wise guys exploit them and jump ahead of them in line.  If you want to be a nice guy for your own satisfaction, go ahead and do it, but don't expect the world to reward you for it.  When it comes to commerce, the world doesn't care how nice you are.  It just wants to know what you have to offer and how much you're charging for it.

Commercial success requires self-promotion.  If you're squeamish about promoting yourself and your ideas, stay home.  There isn't any recognition, endorsement, and implementation of good ideas without promotion.  That's the way the world works.  Self-promotion doesn't guarantee success, but success doesn't come without it.  I want to be a better promoter.  It just isn't something that I grew up doing.  I never gave promotion due respect for the role it plays in the implementation of good ideas and the achievement of human success and prosperity.  I thought success was a gift from the gods, a reward for good morals and well doing.  I didn't want to admit that I might have to be smart, work hard, and take risks to achieve a worthy goal.  Why bother!  You don't have to bother, but don't complain about being stuck in the mud without any good prospects.  The world isn't going to make things right for you.  God isn't going to make you successful for being a nice guy.  Get over it.  Get on the stick.  Do something for yourself.

Answering the Call

SPIRITUALITY, ART, COMMERCE

I live in a world that doesn't care about me and the things that are important to me, a world with values that are fundamentally different from mine.  Spirituality, art, commerce, home, and a world that doesn't care.  Spirituality is a way of looking at the world and living in it.  Value system.  Perspective.  Guide.

Commerce is what I do to earn a living.  It's a basic, human necessity.  Got to do it to live in the world.  I can't do much of anything else if I don't work.  Part of life is figuring out how to earn a living without spending all of my time doing it.  I want to spend time doing things that I like, whether they make money or not.  Everything can't always be about money.  Sometimes things have to be about inherent value.  Things have value whether they move in the marketplace or not.  Commercial value is neither the only nor the highest value.  Part of life is learning how to earn a living easily.  I won't let commerce rob me of my life.  I won't let labor deprive me of enjoyment.

Spirituality is a perspective.  Commerce is a necessity.  Home is a gift I give myself.  What is art?  Art is what I do for love, whether it makes money or not.  There isn't always a lot of time for art, because it takes a lot of time to make money.  It takes a lot of time to earn the right to live in the world, even before you get to enjoy it.  Commerce can be difficult and challenging.  It carries its own sense of struggle and accomplishment.  But, that is before I ever even get around to what really matters to me in life.  Whatever it is, there isn't a lot of time left for it after I get done working.  Ah, but there's some, and I have to make the most of it.  I have to learn how to make the most of what's left over, after laboring for the privilege of living in the world.  That isn't something that anyone else can give me.  I earn it.  I claim it.  I use it.

Art is what I do for love.  Writing.  Writing what I want to, whenever I want to, and sharing it with you because I can.  Art is the untold story.  It's the part of life that commerce doesn't care about, but I do.  It's what the world wants to take away from me by indifference or design, but it can't.  Only I can destroy my inspiration by refusing to answer its call.  Commerce is my struggle to survive, art is my struggle to be a fully realized human being.