I'M TIRED OF WRITING ABOUT MYSELF---so I'll relate a few more highlights and tell you what I think this all means. Really, I have been trying to make a point.
1. I lived briefly on a desert Island (Ballast key) about 10 miles out from Key West, Fla.
I sailed my Shark Catamaran out there with my girlfriend (the lady who ran off to mexico) and settled in for a week or so. It was fascinating at first and then it got tedious. Finally we ran out of water and hurried back.
2. I sailed down the Mississippi River from Memphis to New Orleans on that same boat (sails only--no motor) --(different girlfriend)--a distance of about 600 miles---took 10 days---we slept at night on sandbars. This was one of those fantasies that was as thrilling as I'd hoped it would be.
One exciting moment was sailing past the Delta Queen paddle wheel steamboat with all the people waving to us. We drifted along in splendid silence--sometimes only a few feet off shore sometimes startling deer.
I went on to have many boating experiences--not least was "losing myself" in the canyons of Lake Powell.
3 I've not had a job in about 40 years. I found a way to avoid rent---and that has made all the difference. The income from the houses I've owned was just enough to let me live comfortably unemployed--let me spend my time doing what I enjoyed.
4. Had 15 minutes of fame---with my "Believe and Be Damned" speech. Got a standing ovation from a packed house in Ft Lauderdale. Did a radio talk show circuit discussing it-- Gave it about a hundred times in Unitarian churches across the country. (Truthfully, it amounts to nothing---made no serious money---people forget what you said) Just gave me a short "high"--(not a bad thing)
And Oh yes: I won 1st prize in the Beaux Arts Ball in New Orleans in a self made costume.
5.Miscellaneous stuff: Had a nose Job--to remove a bump injury--Traveled above the Arctic circle with my Friend Arnold--to the town of Inuvick. Memorized a hundred classic poems which I can still recite. Wrote a hundred or so of my own. Was nearly bit by a sidewinder rattlesnake. Have a low tolerance for Alcohol and therefore have never been drunk. I have boondocked more than 7000 nights all over Canada, the USA and Mexico.
CONCLUSION: By now you've got the flavor of my life. In some ways it was indeed thrown away because I have few material things to show for it. I have traded a career for experiences. I DON'T REGRET IT. Thoreau said it best: "Time is the stream I go fishing in". I believe with Ayn Rand in the virtue of selfishness. That if you live your life for yourself--doing the things that make you happy, you are more likely to contribute to a better world than if you give your self away--let yourself be used by others.
1. I lived briefly on a desert Island (Ballast key) about 10 miles out from Key West, Fla.
I sailed my Shark Catamaran out there with my girlfriend (the lady who ran off to mexico) and settled in for a week or so. It was fascinating at first and then it got tedious. Finally we ran out of water and hurried back.
2. I sailed down the Mississippi River from Memphis to New Orleans on that same boat (sails only--no motor) --(different girlfriend)--a distance of about 600 miles---took 10 days---we slept at night on sandbars. This was one of those fantasies that was as thrilling as I'd hoped it would be.
One exciting moment was sailing past the Delta Queen paddle wheel steamboat with all the people waving to us. We drifted along in splendid silence--sometimes only a few feet off shore sometimes startling deer.
I went on to have many boating experiences--not least was "losing myself" in the canyons of Lake Powell.
3 I've not had a job in about 40 years. I found a way to avoid rent---and that has made all the difference. The income from the houses I've owned was just enough to let me live comfortably unemployed--let me spend my time doing what I enjoyed.
4. Had 15 minutes of fame---with my "Believe and Be Damned" speech. Got a standing ovation from a packed house in Ft Lauderdale. Did a radio talk show circuit discussing it-- Gave it about a hundred times in Unitarian churches across the country. (Truthfully, it amounts to nothing---made no serious money---people forget what you said) Just gave me a short "high"--(not a bad thing)
And Oh yes: I won 1st prize in the Beaux Arts Ball in New Orleans in a self made costume.
5.Miscellaneous stuff: Had a nose Job--to remove a bump injury--Traveled above the Arctic circle with my Friend Arnold--to the town of Inuvick. Memorized a hundred classic poems which I can still recite. Wrote a hundred or so of my own. Was nearly bit by a sidewinder rattlesnake. Have a low tolerance for Alcohol and therefore have never been drunk. I have boondocked more than 7000 nights all over Canada, the USA and Mexico.
CONCLUSION: By now you've got the flavor of my life. In some ways it was indeed thrown away because I have few material things to show for it. I have traded a career for experiences. I DON'T REGRET IT. Thoreau said it best: "Time is the stream I go fishing in". I believe with Ayn Rand in the virtue of selfishness. That if you live your life for yourself--doing the things that make you happy, you are more likely to contribute to a better world than if you give your self away--let yourself be used by others.
HIGHLIGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS OF A "THROWN AWAY" LIFE
![HIGHLIGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS OF A "THROWN AWAY" LIFE]()
Reviewed by Unknown
on
December 21, 2014
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