Work and money from a psychonauts view

[jiffilube]

I figured this would go best in PD since its primarily of a more psychedelic aspect on things.

What do you do for work and how do you go through with it? I'm curious as to how you can deal with all the pointlessness, or how you get around it and do something else?

For me its almost impossible to fit into a modern work environment because of all of the structure and how I see the pointlessness of most careers. I wish I could do something with meaning. It seems like most everything in society is focused on money and reaching success or some infinite unattainable goal, e.g. always bigger and better, for what seems to me no reason.

When I tell people this they look at me like I'm insane. Frequently people come off with something like "So you want to be a bum?" I can honestly tell people I would turn down any sum of money, and they cant believe me. It truly does deeply sadden me at times.

 

[tBirdee]

Hey man, I think of it all the same way.

I used to work at Mcdonalds and it fucking sucked dick, my parents would not let me quit and i worked there for almost two years before getting myself fired(skipped shifts, left early, etc.) so i finally didn't have to work there. After looking for another job for around a year i finally found a job at an Italian restaurant in my city, as a dish washer.

After working there for a while, and let me say it is an intense job because its the busiest restaurant in my city, I actually started to kind of enjoy working there. I like my co-workers and my boss likes me so its WAY better than mcdonalds, and last night i had to work in the salad/pizza station because buddy didn't show up for his shift. Because of this next week i start on salads and that could be the start of a career, like it should have took me twice as long to get promoted, it took this one kid nine months to get promoted and he was pro as fuck in the dish pit. It took me four months.

Anyways, I think you just gotta find out what you wanna do and work on that.

And I too hate the way money is viewed by and runs peoples lives, shitty world right now, man.

 

[Eldaren]

To me working is about perspective. I don't LIKE working, but I don't dislike it either. I work as a finance broker, I'm in between jobs right now but when I am working I have my plans for the present and future and what I want to do with that job. If I don't do that sort of thing (I always thought it sounded kind of stupid) I always end up quitting within a few months due to the pointlessness of it all.

Most of us would like to do something meaningful. Most of us don't have the means to do that. Most of us don't even plan to have the means to ever do that either. I don't prescribe to the belief that any sort of career is really for helping people. All careers are a means to an end, a $ sign for an amount of work. People can find work satisfaction all they want, it doesn't mean they are truly helping people. I want to be self sufficient in future, and be able to help people because I want to, not because it puts food on the table for me.

Not everything in society is focused on money, but if you look hard enough you can always feel like it is based on money, simply due to its prevalence. If you want to find a real "career" with REAL "meaning", that could be difficult unless you start your own business with your own charter and business ethics and ideals. Working for someone else is always an agenda.

 

[jiffilube]

I don't want a career though, such a thing is absolutely pointless. The future is nothing to me so I never have any goals, theres no reason to. All i need in life is food and to be happy, and unfortunately this world is so twisted that I cannot attain such things without dealing with something as pointless and filthy as currency.

 

[swilow]

I don't want a career though, such a thing is absolutely pointless. The future is nothing to me so I never have any goals, theres no reason to. All i need in life is food and to be happy, and unfortunately this world is so twisted that I cannot attain such things without dealing with something as pointless and filthy as currency.

Soooooo......what then?

"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

After enlghtenmnet, chop wood, carry water". - Zen monk

Working is living and lving is loving and lovng s gving. Theres no seperation, just don't hurt our Mother.

 

[Eldaren]

So no career in the entire world could possibly hold any sort of meaning to you? There's no job in the entire world that has any aspects that interest you or that you can find positives in? You also don't want to do anything positive in the world, or for the world, you just want to eat food and be happy in the most selfish way possible, without having to ever actually do anything? And take drugs as well I suppose? That come for free?

I used to feel the same way you do about the world, and over the last 5 or 6 years that has changed dramatically. You'll gain experience and find happiness in things that surprise you. You'll probably end up with some sort of plan as well, even if you didn't mean to.

Besides work isn't all bad, depending on the job you can meet some of the best people you'll meet. The mix is much wider than any school environment could be. (Keep in mind that people who take psychedelics are also people who work)

 

[swilow]

I can honestly tell people I would turn down any sum of money, and they cant believe me. It truly does deeply sadden me at times.

Why would you do that? Money could be used to help peoplemwho don't have it. Its certqnly not something to lust after, but it has its uses. Don't mx the symbols withe the true message. Work/money are no different to play/freedom. True freedom means you take the good wth the bad, ie. the wholesome nature of workng (doing somethng you don't want) gves you money (bad, as it emerges from a captalstic shtmine). Instead of sayng you WON'T work, how about amng to work in a feld you like? You have the rght to choose of course, but helpng yourself to help others is a good move imo.

 

[Eldaren]

Not to mention that a lot of people who seem ONLY money driven actually are not. Sometimes it just comes off that way either because of circumstance or how you're seeing it. They might be all about money, don't get me wrong, but sometimes you need to give people a chance. A lot of my closest friends I know are not money driven, but some might get that impression occasionally. In reality, we're just working towards the same dream that you have as hard as we can. To live happily and put food on the table without having to work anymore, or do a bunch of stuff we don't want to do because we have to. We've just realised what that dream takes.

 

[PepperSocks]

I just had a massive epiphany about this this weekend.

It's about getting involved and doing things, connecting with people and being productive.

The job I'm in is decent; I won't get rich off it, but I have benefits, the people are nice, the hours are flexible.

The thing is, I've been very lazy for a long time. I get a job and do it so I can get payed. That was my mentality. The problem is I would do the bare minimum; just enough to not get fired. I didn't show initiative and was the opposite of proactive.

This weekend I saw how much of a drain on the people I was. The subject matter being investigated (cardiovascular sciences) doesn't really interest me but I'm good at developing the assays for chemicals and novel proteins in tissues. I would just do what I had to do and not much else. The lab is a pigstye, I would never clean up and just had a general "don't care" attitude. I was also grossly taking advantage of the flexible hours. Every other job I've had has been with someone hounding over me making sure I was there right at the certain time of the day, making sure I was always moving. In this job they're expecting me to be mature enough to motivate myself. I've been at work maybe 25 hours a week, and only actually working for about 15 of those.

I know if I kept going like that by the end of my contract I'd be out the door; not because I'm not good at what I do, but it's no use being good at something if you don't do it, or rise above the expected level of "doing".

To me it's about being active and helpful, it doesn't matter what the work actually is. It's how you feel while you're doing it. In the past I've felt like it would be great if I could just get a little check to keep my head above water and not have to do any work. What a grim existence that would be.

You have to find that drive to not be vacuous, but the opposite. Be outgoing, be helpful, be productive, get moving. Not only will you feel better in your mind, but your body will feel better too.

I'm actually excited to go into the lab tomorrow and start cleaning it up. My co-workers are going to wonder what the hell happened to me.

Nice thread by the way.

Oh and swil, I actually did spent the day chopping and bringing in wood :D

 

[isotopic_parody]

Man... the trick for me is to find something that you enjoy doing... or see you living your life out for a purpose to better mankind... not to continue where we are... but to advance us as a civilization. If that means starting a major LSD laboratory and spreading the love around by the millions of hits, so be it.

If it means finding a cure for AIDS or cancer? Do it.

Find something to be passionate about or that your good at and work with it for the better of mankind... fuck the money. Work to survive, but work for the survival of our species.

 

[chemi]

I feel I must chime in here. I work for a major IT company which you would have all heard of as a technician. It is not a rewarding job in the sense that a teacher feels he or she has helped educate and mature children, or a nurse / doctor who has saved someone's life. But the way you get through is by looking at what you want. I want a wife, children and a house with room for the kids (and perhaps a dog) to run around. It is unfortunate that our society is based around money but human nature has forced us to setup this way (greediness).

Surely there is something you want to do, perhaps to help people. Every day, in the back of my mind, something is nagging at me to quit this IT industry and become some sort of social worker, maybe specifically with violence in the home or something similar.

What do you think the most important thing in the world is? Answer that questionm and you will find a profession which matches it.

 

[jiffilube]

Theres a difference between a stock broker and a farmer. If I worked in a community to help with food, water, community projects and in return would receive the same I would be happy with everything. The problem is this world is so built up on pointless unnecessities that this kind of situation doesn't exist anymore.

 

[chemi]

Theres a difference between a stock broker and a farmer. If I worked in a community to help with food, water, community projects and in return would receive the same I would be happy with everything. The problem is this world is so built up on pointless unnecessities that this kind of situation doesn't exist anymore.

So get involved. I'm not sure of an American equivelant but in Australia we have plan.org.au which does just that - a lot of time and money is spent in Southern Asia trying to rebuild communities there. You just need to research

 

[jamaica0535]

I want was raised with the idea that i should do something with my life. I have a memory for drugs, so i decided to go with trying to end up a pharmacist somewhere in my "plan"....

Im do not consider myself materialistic compared to most, i do know that money can not buy happiness but it can keep you at least content.... You still need to pay for bills and whatnot....

Pay for a house. Pay for a car. Pay for a cell phone. Pay bills on all of these.

I just want to make enough money doing something im good at and enjoy to not have to worry about bills and all the other bullshit financial issues.

Hopefully retire early, bullshit until im put in a nursing home, and then roll my hoverround over a cliff/highway/grand canyon when im no longer self sufficent....

I actually just got a job doing stock shit for a biomedical research center working on cellular growth. Pay is 12 an hour, but as far as responsibility goes its the highest job i have ever had. My first job trusted me with a couple thousand in cash, my next trusted me with a pool that had cost 1.5 million to produce. The stock boy job i start monday has me likely handling more than 1.5 million in stock per day. Being able to hold 1 gram of material in your hand that is worth something around $80,000 is a job i think i can have a little bit of enthusiasm for. I think i will enjoy it, have to develop a case of OCD for organization because if anything gets lost or is out of its specific temperature range for too long, thousands or tens of thousands of dollars worth of material could go down the drain. So i kind of have to give a shit about this job. But the people seem cool, and they liked me during the interview.

Come friday i am going back to my old job to piss of a manager, they told me to not bother comming back to ask for my job. When my old manager gets on my ass and tries to see if im comming back to ask for my old job, and i know she will because she has a terrible personality, I am going to laugh and tell her that i am now making more than her.

 

[any major dude]

there are plenty of things that i think you could find meaningful that will put a roof over your head and food on your plate. Americorp, PeaceCorp, or any number of charitable organizations are far more meaningful than being a cog in an office somewhere. Teaching, at any level, can also fulfill both needs, as imparting knowledge to others is one thing i've placed high value on after entering a more psychedelic state of mind

 

[jiffilube]

The only bill I could imagine would be mortgage. I wanna grow most of my food anyway, and would love it if i lived without electricity. I don't need any of the terrible things modern society considers "comforts," but once im out of high school im going to do my best to get away from all of it..

 

[chemi]

The only bill I could imagine would be mortgage. I wanna grow most of my food anyway, and would love it if i lived without electricity. I don't need any of the terrible things modern society considers "comforts," but once im out of high school im going to do my best to get away from all of it..

But how will you trip to Mr. Floyd!!

edit: just answered my own question - http://www.aziomediablog.com/2009/03/10/silvertone-tru-phonic-phonograph-1927/

 

[jiffilube]

Haha true. Not saying electricity is bad for any reason either, if I could be somehow electrically self sufficient that would be great.

 

[Xorkoth]

I don't want a career though, such a thing is absolutely pointless. The future is nothing to me so I never have any goals, theres no reason to. All i need in life is food and to be happy, and unfortunately this world is so twisted that I cannot attain such things without dealing with something as pointless and filthy as currency.

Not necessarily true. You seem to equate having a career with being a stockbroker, or something money-related. A career is just something you devote your life to doing. It doesn't even have to make you money. Anything at all could be your career.

Theres a difference between a stock broker and a farmer. If I worked in a community to help with food, water, community projects and in return would receive the same I would be happy with everything. The problem is this world is so built up on pointless unnecessities that this kind of situation doesn't exist anymore.

Not all communities have lost this concept. There are still lots of places in the world where you can do some sort of work that goes directly back into your community to help sustain it.

As for me, I'm a computer programmer. I enjoy it and consider it an art form. I work for a market research company which is small and which is full of loving people. I worked there for 3 years, moved to the mountains, and now I full from my home office. I make good money and can use it to help others and pursue my interests, which mostly involve programming and making the world a better place. Money can be used for good or evil. As it stands, right now it's a necessity unless you want to live off the grid and produce your own food and shelter and other means of survival. So it's best to find something you can enjoy doing, and do it. Everyone has to work, whether it's hunting and gathering or computer programming.

I always say that a person should do what they're the most passionate about. If you do that, you'll be happy, and you'll probably end up making more money than if you had done something you weren't passionate about, if you really work it.

 

[jiffilube]

I love programming, robotics specifically, but even when I'm doing it I cant get over the fact that its pointless and means nothing.

I would love lo live "off the grid." I wish i could start a colony or something of the sort like that, but it just sounds to fantastic..