illusions
If you actually know me then no doubt you've seen that I have a new project online. I built Kinkbnb.com last month. We're doing our official launch on May 1st and doing lots of interviews in the run up to that. It got kicked off with a huge interview I did with the Huffington Post that drove our numbers beyond anything I could have hoped for - and continues to drive traffic to us. The nice thing about Huffington Post is that the articles are online forever and get lots of traffic too.
If you actually know me then you also know that I've been struggling for a long time to make ends meet. Whatever the reason, it's kept me perpetually impoverished for a while. I now live on a very nice (to me) sailboat in San Francisco and I wouldn't be able to afford it here otherwise. i would rather live in a real apartment, but living on a boat and being around sailors has taught me a lot about life.
One of the ironies of this situation is that a few hours before the Huffington Post interviewed me, I stood in line for food stamps because I hadn't had money for food in a week or so.
People ask me why I'm an entrepreneur. They don't understand why I would take risks, live the way I do, make the choices I have. On the flip side, I don't understand why most people choose to live the way they do. When talking to me, people ask why I forsake my comfort and security for trying to make things work. I've watched in silence as folks I knew chose the easy life in a cubicle over the dream they have of writing novels, of starting a coffee shop, or anything other than being a piece of human veal in a fattening pen. It's frustrated me because my experiences have taught me one thing if anything - that there is no security this side of the grave. It's frustrated me to no end when loved ones decided I was not worth their time because I couldn't provide the illusion of security they craved so very much. You shouldn't be that codependent anyway though.
People cling to the illusion of comfort and stability all their lives and never realize that there is no such thing. You could have the best job in the world and a great home, all the stuff in the world you could ever want - and it could all be taken from you at a moment's notice. Once you realize this, then you become pretty fearless. I didn't tell you about standing in line for food stamps for pity - I told you because that is my life at the moment. Despite this, I still have a great life. I have access to all the free crab I could want. I have a network of friends who help me out from time to time. I don't take any of this for granted, and nobody in San Francisco should - a large earthquake is coming, and I'm extra glad I have a 30 gallon water tank and off the grid power of my own design available. This is a large part of what sailing the bay has taught me - you're on your own for the most part on the water AND IN LIFE. I expect I shall experience this in even greater detail when I decide to finally sail to Hawaii and reach that part of the journey where you are too far out to sea for anyone to find you or help you.
I'm not afraid to make that journey anymore. I don't understand people who are scared of things like this either. I don't understand the need for "security" when it's all just an illusion. I don't find these people interesting anymore no matter how well read or erudite they may be. More and more I'm relating to the folks who know that comfort and security are an illusion that has been sold to you by advertising and the people who want to keep you under their control. I know a lot of people who would be ashamed to stand in a line for food stamps. I've not let anything get in the way of survival, and I'm not about to now.
I know things are going to get better - they already are for me, slowly but surely. I also know that it's not going to last. And I wouldn't do a damned thing different. If you have some dream you want to make happen, you should do it. I'll be honest, my dream was not to start a BDSM homesharing website - I just wanted to make a company that worked. That's just what stuck to the wall, and I'm going with it.
Illusions never stopped me, and they shouldn't stop you either.
If you actually know me then you also know that I've been struggling for a long time to make ends meet. Whatever the reason, it's kept me perpetually impoverished for a while. I now live on a very nice (to me) sailboat in San Francisco and I wouldn't be able to afford it here otherwise. i would rather live in a real apartment, but living on a boat and being around sailors has taught me a lot about life.
One of the ironies of this situation is that a few hours before the Huffington Post interviewed me, I stood in line for food stamps because I hadn't had money for food in a week or so.
People ask me why I'm an entrepreneur. They don't understand why I would take risks, live the way I do, make the choices I have. On the flip side, I don't understand why most people choose to live the way they do. When talking to me, people ask why I forsake my comfort and security for trying to make things work. I've watched in silence as folks I knew chose the easy life in a cubicle over the dream they have of writing novels, of starting a coffee shop, or anything other than being a piece of human veal in a fattening pen. It's frustrated me because my experiences have taught me one thing if anything - that there is no security this side of the grave. It's frustrated me to no end when loved ones decided I was not worth their time because I couldn't provide the illusion of security they craved so very much. You shouldn't be that codependent anyway though.
People cling to the illusion of comfort and stability all their lives and never realize that there is no such thing. You could have the best job in the world and a great home, all the stuff in the world you could ever want - and it could all be taken from you at a moment's notice. Once you realize this, then you become pretty fearless. I didn't tell you about standing in line for food stamps for pity - I told you because that is my life at the moment. Despite this, I still have a great life. I have access to all the free crab I could want. I have a network of friends who help me out from time to time. I don't take any of this for granted, and nobody in San Francisco should - a large earthquake is coming, and I'm extra glad I have a 30 gallon water tank and off the grid power of my own design available. This is a large part of what sailing the bay has taught me - you're on your own for the most part on the water AND IN LIFE. I expect I shall experience this in even greater detail when I decide to finally sail to Hawaii and reach that part of the journey where you are too far out to sea for anyone to find you or help you.
I'm not afraid to make that journey anymore. I don't understand people who are scared of things like this either. I don't understand the need for "security" when it's all just an illusion. I don't find these people interesting anymore no matter how well read or erudite they may be. More and more I'm relating to the folks who know that comfort and security are an illusion that has been sold to you by advertising and the people who want to keep you under their control. I know a lot of people who would be ashamed to stand in a line for food stamps. I've not let anything get in the way of survival, and I'm not about to now.
I know things are going to get better - they already are for me, slowly but surely. I also know that it's not going to last. And I wouldn't do a damned thing different. If you have some dream you want to make happen, you should do it. I'll be honest, my dream was not to start a BDSM homesharing website - I just wanted to make a company that worked. That's just what stuck to the wall, and I'm going with it.
Illusions never stopped me, and they shouldn't stop you either.