Free time, ideas and freedom

I haven't been posting long essays or detailed analysis of anything recently because of a lack of time-- a lack of time to think and because of a lack of time to write. Today is a little different, because it's a lazy Saturday-- in that I don't have my usual Saturday marathon meetings. I spent most of the day in bed, sleeping, lounging around at home, going out getting my hair cut and eating an omelette lunch at 4 pm. Suffice to say, I had a considerable amount of free time today.

The Importance of Ideas

Most of my ideas usually occur during idle moments while I am randomly walking around, sitting around or reading a variety of articles on the net. Occasionally, a spark goes off and I've got an idea. The idea of course, requires hashing out to properly define the scope and focus of the concept. Applications and implications are then explored when the fundamental concepts are laid out and understood. When I have the whole picture in mind, it is usually then the words come out easy to explain what I know. If I start trying to explain things before I've figured things out, I usually end up meandering all over the place; there is no focus, I haven't got a point to make.

Ideas are the life blood of a sentient being-- it's the difference that makes us different from calculator tools we use such as computers. It is ideas that define the nature or the character of a human being. The lack there of, leaves a person undistinguished (in more than one senses of the meaning).

Ever talked to a person that has no opinion? Ever talked to a person that few or no interests? Realize how dull or boring your conversations are with those kinds of people? You might as well talk to a wall. By the end of the conversation you'll probably vow to never talk to that person again, because the conversation was exceptionally dry. But in fairness, what applies to other people, also applies to you. So what do you do to prevent this from happening to you?

Making time

If you want to be interesting you are going to need time to gather inspiration and cultivate ideas. In order to do this, you are going to need free time; free time to explore, to get exposure to new knowledge and finally organize thoughts. Personal growth is a result of 2 things; ideas and action. If you don't have any ideas, then you're not going to get to the action; again, in many senses of 'action.' Good ideas are sexy, for example Apple's new iPhone is incredibly sexy (I also suggest reading or watching the keynote). What were you thinking about?

If you want to be interesting and have ideas (the both are synonymous), it boils down to time-- you need time to think! Unfortunately I've fond that either many people don't have the time, or just simply don't.

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice. ~ Albert Einstein

Got a busy job? Is the only thing that you have energy for during the day is going to work and coming back exhausted, vegging out at home and repeating the cycle the next day? If your job doesn't involve using your brain or if you're not using your brain on the job, then I will assure you that you could be stuck doing that job, for as long as you or that job exists. I think that's where someone might have gotten the idea of a union to protect jobs. I for one, think that there are better ideas to be had, but I digress. The main point here is, if you don't think, you're never going to grow. Make or find the time.

I've had that problem before, I've had mindless boring jobs where I would stare at satellite pictures all day while aligning roads and bodies of water to maps. They didn't really need my brain for that job, they just needed someone to do the job and I was also paid as much as they valued me (which was fairly little). I sat there for 6 months doing that job without using my brain for most days killing time to make a worthless buck.

If there was a way to turn a person's life time into money, I had just discovered it right there-- the going rate was $10/hr. Want to put a price on life? The going rate for some places could be $7200 for a month, including the time you slept. If someone offered you $7200 but you'd die a month earlier than expected, would you take the deal? Working a brain dead job is the same thing. I'll presume that you value yourself more then that.

If you want to save yourself from that kind of position, then learn how to save time. The time that you make for yourself can be used to come up with more ideas to save you more time and it just gets better from there. One day, you'll end up doing the things that you want to do instead of the things that you must.

Knowledge is power. So are ideas.