For those who seek to live the creative's destiny and to live their destiny creatively.
[_A creative: an artist. Not just a painter or musician or writer. She is someone who sees the world a little differently than others._]
[COSMIC. 1 a : ... the extraterrestrial vastness, or the universe in contrast to the earth alone. b : ... concerned with abstract spiritual or metaphysical ideas.]
TODAYS READ: "Whomsoever riches do not exalt, poverty will not abase, nor calamity cast him down."
Cosmic Event: #2 - The Poor Rich Artist
From the everyday practical side, the wisdom ... poverty will not abase, nor calamity cast him down, is a problem that must be solved in our lifestyle and the logistics of navigating life. We need to calculate the karma price tag of possessions, and relationships. The concept of Karma I've heard explained in so many ways, but here in the west it tends to be projected upon with our western Christian ideas of reward and punishment. "You do something bad something bad will happen to you etc." The understanding I have derived is very sensible and rational.
Karma Price Tag
Things have Karma attached, Actions have Karma price tags on them. If we start a business, we have generated a mechanism of Karma, something that will now expect maintenance, and as it grows the mechanism will require more Karma to keep it afloat. The concept can come down to the simplest possessions, such as buying that snazzy new loop pedal gizmo for our guitar rig set up. The Karma attached is the time and struggle of learning how to use the pedal, the frustration of it not working like the guy on youtube, the maintenance of the batteries, and the guilt when you put it on te shelf and don't pick it up again.
The Lean For The Lean Years
We must shape our lifestyle and possessions to live as a Cosmic Creative. We can't afford to not calculate the Karma of things we buy, or start, even relationships we began. We must run a lean machine, because the Cosmic Artist, though she can work in her field, she is essentially trying to create and sustain something has not yet had a box made for it. If she does not have a social and economic infrastructure to carry her through lean times, she will have to shape herself over and over to fit in the ready-made boxes, hence never finding a sustainable true creative expression.
Don't chase the Carrot, it's just a f&*%'n Carrot
Through life, I have lived among professional artists, musicians, and writers. There is a way in which they must live, almost like gypsies, able to make any space their home. This is often told with the storyline of the big paycheck at the end. I actually don't know any that have received that paycheck where the struggle was over, though they do have peaks and valleys. That is the reality of this life. Some have fallen by the wayside because they were living that peaks and valley life by following the carrot in front of them of the false story that it will someday all pay off. It might and it might not. That is why, whether it does or it doesn't we must get beyond the practical, and go deeper into the spirit of the creative life we live. We have to, in a sense, learn to actually thrive and enjoy the lifestyle of insecurity.
The Poor Poet (1839), Spitzweg
Binary Wealth Meter
I’ll touch on one more practical concept, but the topic is too explore today, that is the binary code of wealth. A friend shared this with me and it’s a good way to consider money. Each person has a binary code of wealth. 0 and 1. We can sometimes think of the happiness and security money can bring on a scale.
So, if I make 100,000 I’m pretty happy and get happier and more secure as it rises indefinitely. But there is a certain diminishing return, my friend said that he was much happier when he hit $100,000 in his business, he went full steam ahead, and felt completely secure at $300,000 but beyond that, even when he reached into the millions the return of security and happiness did not change much from the $300,000 income. The concept of binary wealth meter is, first off, it’s personal. Each person has a ZERO and if their income falls below that ZERO, even if it’s $100,000 they feel insecure and deprived. But their ‘1,’ might be $200,000 income, and they are at that point about as happy as a clam, further rising is diminished returns.
image source
What I like to do is remove the visual of money, and put a visual of a fictional 'security-bill' in its place. Because it’s really not the amount of dollar bills you have so much as it is the balance of our income, our debt, our time, our relationship’s condition, our health and our comfortability of lifestyle. When our factor this in, there are ways of living, of finding pleasures in life that don’t require much money at all. Our ‘0’ mark will be hard to find when we carry no weight.
A Self-Contained A Paradox
In order to be self-contained, we must keep our own self as the home we are happy in at all times. A self-contained person is not changed inwardly by the circumstances she is presented with. Rich or Poor, she wakes and does her day in unchanged. She doesn’t cheapen herself when she needs riches, she doesn’t exalt herself when she has them. We would not know from meeting her, whether she was rich or poor, she doesn’t live in those categories.
Clearing The Debri To Be Free
The work is in the clearing away of the clutter so that that SELF can be seen. ‘no calamity can cast you down.’ The calamity is something being taken FROM us, but, ... you can’t take what is freely given away.
And there lies the key to this saying, ‘He,’ can not be exalted by riches because he already has what he needs, and it can not be taken away or bought so easily with a little paper bill. How much power and energy do you give to possesions? How much do they take from you? Which Possesions are worth the spend, which are not?
****Today’s Cosmic Event****
Today. Let go of some Karmic Weight. I'll give three examples. Pick one, or decide on your own a definite action that would lift a few pounds off of you.
(1) The biggest Karma price tag is unresolved problems relationships. Even seemingly insignificant relationships. Is there someone you avoid? Why? Do you owe them money an apology? Have they hurt you? If you owe them, make a gesture toward paying. If they have hurt you. Relieve their Karma burden and resolve to forgive and forget (FOREVER) that one thing.
(2) Is there some book or tools you bought, and every time you pass buy them you feel a little sad, or regret that you didn't put them to use. Do you say, someday I will! I better keep them! Sell them today.. or throw them away. If you clear that space, something you will use will fill its place.
(3) Get Private for one hour and write ALL fears that come to mind on one page like so: Fear:. My Dog Will Die. When you've written all of them.. keep writing! Pick three of them and do a 'Then What,' timeline on another page.
i.e. Fear: I loose my car > Then What > I loose my job Then What > I loose my House > then what > I loose my Wife > Then What > I loose Respect > Then What
go to the very bottom of those three and see what you actually fear. Is it being alone? Is it Death? Is it being insignificant?
Read Yesterdays Cosmic Event >
Today's Read Taken from Gems From The East author - Unkown
I'm Ezra Vancil, a musician & artist working in Texas. Hope this adds to your creative life! Follow me @ezravan upvote , resteem if you like it! thanks!
This is an awesome article. I'm enjoying your posts very much.
Thank you @rebelmeow