What does “Living The Dream,” mean to you? It’s probably used most often as a sarcastic response to portray the bullshit and boredom of the crappy job, hamster wheel reality; that traps so many. One of the answers to the rhetorical: How’s it going?
“Still upright.” “New day, same shit.” “Living the dream brother, living the dream.”
Instead of “Living The Dream,” perhaps it should be, “Living My Dream.” Take some ownership for your dream. Your individual dream, not some made up collectivist nightmare, like – “The American Dream.” When I was kid in the sixties, I remember falling in love with topographic maps around seventh grade and thinking, a surveyor would be the perfect job.
Out in nature, measuring mountains, hills and valleys, streams, rivers and lakes. Watching the clouds drift across the sky, telling the time or direction by the angle of the sun. Get Out There – Never Stop Exploring, were the war cries of my youth. Fishing was the other fascination back then. I spent the majority of my teenage years, chasing after the finned creatures. So, surveyor and fisherman were at the top of my list; followed by Forest Service Lookout and Bum, (I had high aspirations back then).
“This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.” ― Alan Watts
Forest Lookout is the only one I never quite achieved, though I have been in dozens of old lookout towers over the years. Presently I have ascended to the apex of that list, created so many years ago. It took me almost 50 years to achieve but it was worth the wait. I still do plenty of fishing and playing with topo maps but I do it now from the exalted position of Bum.
“Living The Dream” for me, meant, living an adventure. Kerouac’s “On The Road” and “The Dharma Bums” were the manuals and guides in my counter-culture youth; before fear, ( children, safety and security) put me on the hamster wheel, chasing the American dream. I’ve always appreciated the noun, “Bum” and it typifies what “Living the Dream” means for me. There are a few different definitions but I prefer: “one whose time is devoted to a recreational activity.”
A list of my favorite bums:
- Beach Bum
- Biker Bum
- Climbing Bum
- River Bum
- Ski Bum
- Trout Bum
- Dharma Bum
Dharma Bums
"See the whole thing is a world full of Rucksack Wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage. All of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume - work, produce, consume. I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution, thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to the mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier, all of 'em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures …” ~ Jack Kerouac
Bums are making a comeback in the present generation, which gives me great hope for the future. Folks are just saying no to the – work, produce, consume – earn a living, tax donkey, slave system, that has been forced upon them, by the plutocrats. They’re moving into vans, buses and RV’s. Hitting the road, in search of adventure, chasing their passion, living carefree; gigging along, making enough to live their dream, not someone else’s.
“Living The Dream” is not negative. It’s at the opposite end of the spectrum from the “Earn A Living,” nightmare and the sad, sarcastic mentality that goes with it. “Bum” may be considered a negative term for many but for me, it is the epitome of freedom. Living is about passion. Bums are fringe dwellers, out on the edge, living for the moment, chasing what inspires them and fires their imagination; recognizing that safety and security are illusions foisted upon us, to keep us fearful, subservient and indentured. The world needs more Bums!
LIVING THE DREAM ——————————————— EARN A LIVING
Follow Your Passion