But now I feel off the grid. I feel that I am not part of the culture. And because I don't have a car I don't really go anywhere to buy things. In fact, I have been in a slow process of selling and giving away everything I own.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I don't like to change things too much. I think pretty hard about things before I jump in, and once I do, I feel, 'All right, I don't want to waste the energy of buying, selling this, going on Consumer Reports, test driving, buying, selling a house.' I feel life is to be lived.
When I had money in the past, I would always travel rather than spend it on big apartments or cars. And I still feel exactly the same way.
People don't really give me much anymore, and for good reason. I have to pay for a lot of stuff now, I can afford a lot more than I ever could before. No one really gives me anything anymore, but it feels good.
I draw from my family and my friends and I feel like that small-town person. The achievements, the materialistic possessions have really become to mean less. They mean nothing.
I'm only at the beginning of my career, but I feel successful in that I haven't sold out in any way, shape or form. I feel good about the choices I've made, and I don't feel like I've let go of any of my values.
More and more, I find myself turning away from everything relating to contemporary society. I don't know how healthy it is, but I am creating a very private bubble that I live in.
I get to shift multiple markets. I get to shift economies. It's extremely liberating. I breathe differently.
I've lived so frugally for so long. I have to have that financial security or the world feels out of control for me.
I never felt hard done by and never wanted for anything, but I grew up in a wealthy area where I saw people being handed things on a plate. So it made me want to earn some money and be able to buy things for myself.
All my businesses are part of the culture, so I have to stay true to whatever I'm feeling at the time, whatever direction I'm heading in.