Tag: #peoplebeforeprofits

Freedom Day, Oct 2022 Edition.

I’ve made a lot of gay and trans friends in my forays onto social media as of late. I have to say, homophobes and transphobes are really missing out. I have met some of the most warm, considerate, understanding, and caring folx in the LGTBQIA++ community online.

Here we are again.

I’m just gonna fumble my way through this post by the seat of my pants. It’s been 15 months since I brought home a paycheck. Before anyone rolls their eyes, please understand some of this has been self-imposed.

I’m not entitled to anything. I’m very aware there are people out there in far more need than I. I would love nothing more than to be able to help folx out. I believe in local, grassroots improvements.

I’d probably make a third-rate billionaire, but could we at least slap an “M” on the front of “illionaire?”

I’ve said before I have plans if I can ever get to that million dollar mark. My own family aside, I’d love to be able to help friends out. I’ve met some pretty remarkable people on Twitter, Instagram and out in public who could really use a monetary boost and probably deserve all I could do to help.

Twitter friends are the first people who really come to mind. But it goes farther than donations and small product buys on Ko-Fi, Patreon and Kickstarter. Those avenues are all great, but what if we could do better? What if we could round up a bunch of community members in one place and form a charitable organization?

At the rate we’re going in the US, it might be an underground railroad.

I’ve made a lot of gay and trans friends in my forays onto social media as of late. I have to say, homophobes and transphobes are really missing out. I have met some of the most warm, considerate, understanding, and caring folx in the LGTBQIA++ community online. I almost feel guilty for all the years I wandered around with my proverbial head up my butt.

I thought the #TTRPG crowd on Twitter was pretty cool. Yeah, there are some shmucks out there, but the friends I’ve made far outnumber them. Then, through the very active gaming community, I met a lot of gay and trans folx. I am more than happy to stand up to the bigots, bullies and assholes of the world on their behalf. I feel like I’ve got more family and friends online than here at home in BFN IA. (*Bum Fork Nowhere Iowa.)

The sociopolitical and cultural climate is turning hostile to some of my friends and family. Entire states are threatening to cut medical services and even blatantly discriminate against members of the LGTBQIA++ community. Heck, some states are threatening women’s’ health outright with their abortion ban psychosis. It’s like a big chunk of our politicians have plum lost their damn minds.

Back to my own situation for a few moments.

Race, gender, sexual preference, age, and ability play into everything right now. I regularly get my butt handed to me when it comes to age and physical ability. I would love to rub the noses of some former employers in that particular smelly mess, but I can’t.

What can I say? Big shmucky McCorporate values just don’t match up to helping people and building communities. As long as they’re growing their bottom line, who gives a shit, right?

Lookin at you, Wizards of the Coast. Lookin at you, Paizo. Lookin at you large convenience store chains. I could name companies all day. It boils down to the same old shenanigans. Kick the slightly less “functional” employees to the curb in order to hire younger, more capable ones? Oh, they won’t call it that, of course.

They’re “optimizing.” They’re “economizing.” They’re “maximizing their opportunities” by outsourcing entire departments and firing anyone who doesn’t walk lock-step with their corporate culture. Sorry, my McIdiot doublespeak skills just aren’t in tune with their bullshit corporate culture. At the end of the day, it boils down to a bunch of older, usually white, healthy, cishet, wealthy men making decisions that affect (screw) the rest of us.

Prove me wrong. I’ll wait. What? Oh, that’s right. I’m basically correct.

That 1% (rich people) of the population is pretty monochrome, cishet, and ableist from what I can see. What really blows my mind is that more of the mighty 1% seem to have very little regard or compassion for anyone but their own kind.

I’m happy for you if you’ve got piles of money, honest.

I don’t begrudge anyone who “makes it” in this world. That’s a pretty big statement, all considered. One of the people I admire most in this world, Laura DiBenedetto, totally broke the mold more than once. That’s amazing!

I’ve never asked my friend how much money she’s sitting on. Not my concern. I know it’s likely not chump change. And the major difference is- she’s helping people. She’s making a difference in the lives of other women and even guys like me. There’s one exception among thousands, maybe millions of people.

I was talking to another friend on Twitter about the infamous JK Rowling. The comment about how well she deals with the pain of alienating a portion of her audience with her transphobic views. Rowling replied, “I read my recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly.”

Needless to say, that comment makes me a bit queasy. I love money. Money can do a lot of wonderful things for people. I think it turned JK Rowling into kind of a bitch. It’s sad but when some people hit the big time, they forget that so many others are struggling with the day-to=day. It sucks.

I’d rather see my next royalty check (*if I had one) as a way to feed my family and maybe help some friends out. Why couldn’t Rowling say something like that? Maybe she could have even gone so far as to say she hates losing fans and she’s grateful for all they’ve done to support her? I know, I’m an idealist at heart.

I’m happy for celebrities that went from living out of their car (Lizzo) or being otherwise homeless (Rowling) to making heaps of money. God/Source/Universe bless each and every one. Awesome. But I’ve come to realize I relate more closely to the person they were before that first big break came along. I love them now (Universally speaking,) but I’m rooting for who they were when that first check rolled in. The gratitude, the love, the joy and the excitement were all there! That’s what I think many of us are aspiring-to.

That’s my rant for now.

I had way more I wanted to discuss, but this is getting kinda long. There’s a lot going on in the RolePlaying Game industry worth discussing. I see a lot going on in the world, or at least in my world that is worthy of comment. There’s more to come.

Thank you for being here. I appreciate you stopping by. Carry on.

Duality and $eparation

If you own your own company, be kind and considerate to your people. Uplift and inspire.

2:22
Look at both sides. Change. Change. Change.

I’ve actually put this particular column off for a while now. It’s really stuck in my proverbial craw for quite a while now. (Translation for the youngins: It’s been a triggering subject, kay?) All my life there have been struggles with money. Call it an old paradigm. Call it what you will. Some in the Law of Attraction community will probably lose their marbles regardless.

This whole odyssey of money talk when a certain LoA guru was being a straight-up d*ck to one of his people. I don’t give a flying f*ck how rich you are, you don’t treat people like that. Further more, if LoA works as awesome as he says it does, why are you telling people to “hustle harder, work more?” Where’s all the love and light, universal consciousness, third eye meditation talk? What happened to teaching and guiding as opposed to shitting all over one of your employees? Not kidding, the dude went from being a spiritual warrior and an authority figure on LoA to being the biggest jackass on YouTube, instantly.

And I would have said he was having a bad yogi day if it was an isolated incident. The guy continued to flog it over the course of three or for more videos. Sorry, I lost count because I stopped watching. I think all the fame, fortune, Lamborghini, and Netflix documentary went to someone’s head. Either that, or he sold out to the other side and became Illuminated, if you know what I mean.

But that brings us back to the question, which is it? Work hard and hustle, hustle, hustle so you can sit in the boss’ office someday? Or is it raise your vibration, focus on your vision and act when the time is right with the appropriate amount of effort. Is it chase til you drop or let go and trust the Universe has your back?

I wish a certain “Master” had remembered this quote instead of being a jerk.

My apologies, this is a long article. Let’s look at Duality for a moment. Light or dark? Up or down? Left or right? Male or female? In or out? Welcome to the 3D Earth plane where we are not all one.

Likewise let’s look at Separation for a moment. Because the Almighty decided to experience all forms of itself in order to experience itself, to paraphrase Eckhart Tolle, it separated into billions upon billions of forms. (Talk about perspective!) So, on top of Duality, we have the “Haves” and the “Have-Nots.” We have the stupidly rich 1% and the continuum of the other 99% of us. We have those who are sure they’re going to ascend and the rest of us who will get to the Fifth Dimension regardless of what they think, eventually. (Longer story there for another day.)

So, ‘Master Knucklehead with a Lamborghini’ as I now call him went from being a benevolent, philanthropic, caring, entrepreneurial millionaire to a really sleazy, slimy jackass of a boss who I wouldn’t want to work for, ever. And furthermore made me really wonder wtf if wrong with LoA if this is what people turn into when they hit the big time. Seriously, it’s like LoA became the biggest psy-op since UFO conspiracies.

If someone working for me came to me and asked, “How can I get promoted in your company?” My response is not going to be “Hustle harder. Work more hours. I should fire you because you’re not working hard enough. There’s nothing separating you from all the dime-a-dozen workers out there. I can replace you with anyone off the street today.” While this might not be a popularity contest, I think there are far, far better ways to answer that question. If my boss said that to me, I’m pretty sure I’d make him fill my position today because that’s bullshit. You don’t treat people like that.

I think a better, more benevolent response from a higher vibrational standpoint might have been something to the effect of, “Here’s what I’m looking for in a manager (or ‘X’ position.) Let’s see what we can do to get you there.” Your value to any company should not be determined by strictly how hard you hustle and how indispensable you make yourself. In the rather greasy corporate world especially, we’ve seen time and time again where all that hustle and grind still lands you in the same unemployment line as the person who did the minimum to get by. People get treated worse than cattle by the 1%. I love prosperity, but I don’t want to ever treat someone like they don’t matter.

That’s my next point. I’m about love and light. I’m about prosperity for all. If the universe wants us to experience and much beauty, love, fun, and joy all around as possible, let’s help one another get there. I cringe when I hear LoA gurus tell people they’re “not good enough.” Maybe pushing a lack mentality is not the best way to demonstrate the abundance mindset. Let’s elevate instead of telling people to stay stuck in that tired, destructive, competitive old hustle paradigm.

It’s not a competition. We’re forcing the idea of separation on ourselves every time we compete. If the person next to me gets the big promotion, great. I’m happy for them. Awesome. Am I going to ask what I need to do to get there next time it comes up? Definitely. Who wouldn’t?

If my employer can’t tell me how I need to improve, then obviously they don’t need me that badly because they’re not trying to build a business. I put forward to any business owner, that if you’re not working with your people to improve them, elevate them, educate them, inspire them, and build a strong team, then you’re not serious about your business. Sorry. (God, if only my bosses read my blog…)

Now, my friend Laura DiBenedetto made a very good point once when she said she didn’t just sit on her meditation pillow and poof, one day it all happened for her. She worked freakin hard to get where she is now. I love and respect that so much. Retired at 37? That is pretty impressive, but it didn’t come easy. I call her “Boss” and I don’t even work for her officially.

Laura DiBenedetto, Founder of Vision Advertising, Author of The Six Habits, TedX speaker, and someone I admire greatly.

Truthfully, Laura has made her share of mistakes. She’ll be the first one to tell you that. She is/was a fan of what I call the hustle-and-grind mentality. BUT, she will probably also be the first to remind us that there is more to life, more to abundance than your job, your paycheck or your position in some company somewhere. Truthfully, as LoA people go, (my words, not hers,) she’s about as practical and realistic as one can get. Actually, her outlook toward success and abundance leans mostly toward JOY, which is to say as high of a vibration as possible. That’s where the focus should really be, shouldn’t it? That’s really the end result we’re all striving for, isn’t it?

I don’t know how Laura is as a boss, truthfully. I can speculate all day, but I don’t work for her as an employee, although I do think it would be pretty cool. However, I can honestly say, she is a great motivator, someone who asks questions to make you think, be honest in her responses to your questions, and will inspire you get to where you want to be in life on your own power without running you down. (Much like any other time, she has no idea I’m doing this.) Yes. Go read The Six Habits. Please note, I’m not paid a dime for promoting it. This is strictly because it’s a good book and the author has been an inspiration to me.

I’ll probably revisit this subject at some point in the future. My struggles with Law of Attraction are uh, soon to be over. (Nervous giggle.) At least, that’s what I’m supposed to say. Because if I say, “far from over,” then that implies it’s a length of time out of this now moment as to make it nigh unreachable or that it hasn’t happened yet.

I want to make one point very clear. I love prosperity, whether that’s money, property, love or good health and good times. I do not begrudge others their prosperity. If you’re a millionaire, more power to you. If you’re a billionaire, more power to you. Do no harm. Good intention will always uplift.

I’m going to throw down my mission statement right now. I intend to work for myself and be as prosperous as the Universe will allow however it happens. I intend to be the best employer I could ever work for and be as considerate as I can dream. I will value Kindness, Presence, Gratitude, Intention, Acceptance and Goodness every day. I will strive to embrace love and joy as much as possible for the greatest and highest good of all.

If I ever do manage to employ other people, which might not happen, I promise to be the best freakin boss I can be. I promise to uplift and educate. I promise integrity and philanthropy will be a high priority. And lastly, I promise not to be a jerk to my employees, and if/when I do screw up, to accept criticism with kindness and grace as is due my station as a leader.

Much love and light. Stay safe. Be back soon.



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