Tag: relationships

Great America, Excessive Wealth to Buy Excessive Stuff

On By Rebekka LienIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Great America. The Great American Dream. Haven’t you heard of it? It’s where people create their own futures, get great jobs,  have money so they can buy a house that they will spend the next 40 years  paying off,  or buy 3 too many cars.

It’s where the culture of accumulation and materialism  and  “not having enough” even though most of us are at a the top 1% of the world’s  most well off population. Great America. That is what we have come to.

Instead of great jobs, great entrepreneurs, many have succumb to endless hours  sitting on our asses in a cubicle and office that has no windows, ventilation, or soul.

Do we really need to have “excessive wealth” as backup “just in case”? Just in case  my leg falls off while I’m sitting on my ass…just in case, my wrist breaks while I’m typing 8 hours a day. Oh just in case, while I’m driving from work to home, home to work, almost 365  days per year, I crash into a pole because I’m so damn tired of the job, my mind goes blank when I drive. Do we really need the excessive wealth to buy our 20th pair of jeans that NO ONE  WILL SEE except our bosses, as if we care that our asses looked good while we sit on it 8 hours a day.

Or our Ferrari’s and Mercedez that cost us a year to save up for, only for our  coworkers and bosses to look at. As if driving from home to work needs such an expensive car. Because we’re so depressed from being imprisoned for 40 plus hours a week,  on the weekends, we binge drink and waste the money we just earned, or we go compulsive shopping to fill up  our already spilling over wardrobe.

Having nothing much has really caused me to see that our excessive wealth  does not really lead us to happiness. So how come we still force ourselves to work at jobs we hate to  afford expensive meals, mortgage, expensive cars… when in fact, all we need is the essentials- people who love us.

I propose that NOT having enough is actually only a mentality of a mind. You can have a lot of money and still think you don’t have enough. Contentment is from within.

Pamela Slim in “Escape From Cubicle Nation” talks about Essential vs. Social Self. Essential being the natural self that you are when you’re born, social is that moment when you realize “smiling at the right time” makes your mom happy. Thus, we construct social self to basically MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY. These things are the very things that cause us to stay in a situation or job we hate- because we want to please people or not have them look down on us.

She Left A Legacy, She Loved People

On By Rebekka LienIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Friends I met in Sydney 🙂

I’m almost done with a book called “The Art of Non-Conformity- Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want and Change The World” by Chris Guillebeau. These are one of the many books I’ve been reading about living the “unconventional” and “abnormal life.

Amidst all my worries and angst, I was somehow able to find peace through reading this book. It’ll be okay, God will take care of me.

Then as I was driving home after eating with my cousin, I realized that all I really want to do with my life is to love people. Chris talked about what kind of legacy is it that you may want to leave, then live off of that. Perhaps I have my own baggage, my own issues, but I think loving people doesn’t come that hard to me. Of course, I’m not saying that I can stand everything about everyone, but I love meeting new people, I love building friendships with people. I’m a people person. People truly intrigue me. They are unique and special to me, each person.

I kind of had that epiphany and realized, “wow, the whole time I was getting sucked into the idea that I was living to survive, to make money, to pay bills….that is an outright lie. I’m here on EARTH to love people and to be loved, that is the sweetest and important thing of life”.

So perhaps, my life is in jeopardy in many peoples’ eyes, but without this jeopardy, I would not have arrived at this simple point.

Yes, November beckons a year of loving people and being romanced through life and experiences.

I just love meeting people and getting to know them. I like dancing with people, playing music with people, communicating with people, teaching people, being taught by people, and loving life with people. What is life- if you can’t live it with people?

If You Had No Fear In Life – What Would You Do, How Would You Live Differently?

On By Rebekka LienIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

If there were no fear in you- what would you do, how would you live differently?

I decided to write a list, because, well I’m at those many cross roads in my life. Basically, I’m an artist and a bum. I’m taking slow and deliberate steps to analyze my steps, especially now that I don’t want to fall into “a normal lifestyle”. I don’t really mind being called a bum, because I’m starting a business…so though I am a bum, I’m also an entrepreneur. Sometimes you don’t have the motivation to start your own thang until you have nothing right?

1. I would jump off a cliff (just kidding)
2. Eat poison (just kidding)
3. I would fall in love without fear of it ending
4. I would get a loan to start my business – I really don’t believe in borrowing money
5. I would reach out to certain family members with more zest even though they may not deserve it
6. I would already get off my ass and plan my trip around the world- even though it seems impossible right now

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.”

7. Start my own band and be the leader of it

What are your aspirations if fear didn’t exist? Start now.

Having a Satisfied Soul & Returning To My First Love

On By Rebekka LienIn Uncategorized1 Comment

How could I have given into the lie?
How could I have stopped playing and enjoying life?
I let go of my vision of enjoying life, and became a slave to profit and money, that which society calls security.
When I found myself in front of the keyboard, creating rhythm, singing…I knew that for more than a year, I had lost my vision for playing.
I could not have discovered my loss if I continued to work, to survive, to “thrive” in those peoples’ eyes.
I could not have discovered my first love, my first language again if I pushed myself to “achieve” and to be like everyone else.

It is ironic how we need to be completely stripped of all that society gave us to believe, is security, to find what really matters.
We need to be completely broke, unable to sum up rent. We need to sell our cars, eat ramen noodles, suffer the humiliation of being unable to pay for a drink.

All that society tells us, through commercials, through people- need to be dumped into the garbage.

I feel so free, so relaxed, so myself. I cry and laugh when I want to. I’m in tune with my soul, with my emotions, with my goals. I’m in tune when I’m with people, I don’t think about what I’m doing next, what my schedule is.

I feel completely comfortable in my own skin. I feel no remorse, no anxiety, my muscles are laid back and in place. Tension was my yester-year.

It was the end of July that I left my full time job. I rested for a month and bought a plane ticket to Australia. There, I experienced life to the overfull. I experienced joy, deep suffering, lost, laughter, reflection, peace, and lastly “being”. I experienced what it meant to be. To be aware of all that my life was, to care deeply for strangers I just met. I experienced something that I wish everyone could sense, gain with their souls.

I experienced the deep connection of sorrow, joy, lost, apprehension, goals- the likes of which connects us human beings. Though we came from different nations, our humanity linked us, bonded us.

It’s October 27, 2011. Halloween is coming. Thank you God for giving me freedom to be me, to pursue my dreams, to live a life of love that embraces pain and has no regrets. I feel a twinge of thankfulness, that I am overfilled, overflowing, that it took me one year to truly regain what I had lost, the disappointment that caused me to give up singing and being free.

Today, though I am unable to spend money freely, I feel more joy than I have ever felt. I don’t need many external luxuries to satisfy my soul, I already have a satisfied soul. I pray that I may never go back to where I came from, that I would live out of simply being.

Craving Romance In Your Life?

On By Rebekka LienIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Seems like the word “romance” is overrated, old school, ancient, backward….

Well I’m here to tell you, romance IS THE NEW. We need romance in our lives–  what do I mean?

Now, when I talk about romance, I don’t necessarily mean a partner whispering sweet nothings into your ear, writing love letters all the time, surprising you at your doorstep with flowers, teddy bear, chocolate and the likes. That’s not all I’m talking about.

According to Wikipedia- “Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one’s love, or one’s deep emotional desires to connect with another person.”

Romance “happens” because someone usually adores you, knows your worth, knows you are like a queen, a goddess, worthy to be loved. You are adored.

What if we “already” know that, and don’t necessarily need a guy to tell us our worth? Would we live differently? Would we romance ourselves? We know we are beautiful, worthy of pleasing, so we treat ourselves to ice cream, to a sundae fudge.

This night, I found myself filling up my tub to the brim with hot water.

The night was cold and quiet, filled with only bossa nova music. This was pleasant to my soul.

I scrubbed the debris of the day away, cleansing myself of the weariness of the day…though unlike some busy days,

I listened to my intuition, took myself on a trip to meet new friends at a coffee shop.

The serendipity of connecting with another strange soul, is to me, romantic- as in, new, surprising, unlike the norm.

Today was a romantic day. I treated myself with respect, knew my worth, lived in romance.

The sounds of drums, violin, guitar filled my room and I couldn’t help but dance, alone, yet not alone.

When we realize that our identity does not come from the income, the security of a job, what we do- we live romantically- pleasuring ourselves in what is beautiful. A bath with music filling your senses.

Of course, as the water flowed up my arms, breezing by in fluid motion- I couldn’t help but think “how ironic that I’m broke as hell and I’m happier than ever”. Normal people will never understand how I can give up a full time job to live like this, not knowing where my income will come from. I like the surprise of it all, I like being surprised by God. I’m just salsa-ing, tangoing, samba-ing through life, every step is like a dance.

I watch myself dancing with various friends, every song is another season. It’s a romantic season of being myself, doing what I love, living in the unknown, bathing myself in romantic music, enjoying every moment of being with people. It’s time to be romanced, we need to value our beauty, our lives, our people – instead of finding productivity in every task.

Do you lack romance in your life?