[Porsche-O-Phile]

I have to agree. I had a bit of a spiritual experience this past weekend. I visited a long-time friend of mine who I'd not seen in several years down in Key West, Florida. He's been living there for about nine years and he's been bugging me to pay him a visit for that entire time. I finally got the chance (at the tail-end of a week-long business trip to Lauderdale) so I did.

This guy lives simply - he owns a computer, his clothes, two shelves full of books, some cooking supplies and a futon. That's about it. He rents an apartment which he shares with a few other guys for about $500 a month. He works waiting tables and tending bar at a few places, but his passion is practicing magic at a place called "Frank's Magic Bar" (those who have been will know it). 95% of his income is cash. No worries about tax or alternative minimum tax or the real estate market or any of that crap. His biggest worries in life are when his girlfriend will get out of work and hoping another hurricane doesn't hit the island this year. Simple, unpretentious and a beautiful existence in its own right. I actually quite admire this guy for his ability to live so carefree and simply. Good lesson in that.

He may not be wealthy in terms of income, but he's truly HAPPY. That counts for way more, IMO. I'm giving serious thought to a rearrangement of priorities in my own life (like I said, it was kind of a spiritual pilgramage). I used to think much more like he does - that personal happiness needs to come first and money/material things a distant second (or even lower on the list). Somewhere along the line, I guess I lost sight of that. Perhaps it was born out of a difficult time my wife and I went through when we were barely scraping by in the wake of a layoff - don't know. Point is, it wasn't the right way to respond.

Money is fun and good, but past a point it creates more problems when it solves. I really do see some beauty in living simply and getting off the ratrace treadmill. I have to blame southern California for some of that too - this area is so awash in materialism and overzealous pursuit of material things it's difficult to ignore. I have to give some serious thought to prying myself out of this place and putting myself somewhere where the priorities are a bit more in line with what I know in my heart to be true. The difficult part is I literally JUST got a huge promotion with long-term partnership potential. I have to reconcile this. Maybe there's a way to do both with a simple change of attitude, but I honestly don't know. When one lives in an area where the cost of living is higher than anywhere else in the country and a friggin' shack costs a half million bucks, it's difficult to not worry about money. I think it might be time to look at ditching. A few months ago I'd have dismissed that idea outright "not an option", but I'm seriously wondering. . .

Sorry for the long post, this subject just hit close to home right now. I'm working out my own life/income balance priorities and thank goodness I had a friend in this world that was able to (perhaps unintentionally) be a sort of spiritual guide to me in order to show me the path I have been on up to now is really only one of many.

Money CAN lead to happiness (possibly), but isn't it ultimately easier to simply go after happiness first without the risk or circuitous path? That's the question I grapple with.