Moments of Economic Randumbness: On Life as a Shameless Opportunist and "Being Bothered"
Some people are doctors. Other people are farmers. Yet other people are stockbrokers, real estate agents and retail sales clerks. I'm none of the above.
I have never really had a good answer to the stereotypical party small-talk question "So, what do you do?"
Aside from a smart-alecky "As little as possible!" I have never been quite clear on what I "do."
I used to call myself a "creative slacker," but over the years I have come to the realization that it would be more accurate to describe myself as a "Shameless Opportunist."
Of course, there are a bunch of very negative connotations associated with that moniker... and my opportunism isn't actually a negative thing. At least, I don't think it is.
Anyway, what led me towards "adopting" that particular description is that I tend to see opportunities... and I take them. To clarify a bit further, I am not attached to walking a particular path, and not straying off that path.
If I see something at a flea market that I can resell for a profit, I'll do that. If I am offered the change to edit someone's article, I'll do that. If I can make a bit from helping someone move, I'll do that. If I can get paid for helping someone teach a workshop, I'll do that.
For the past 20 years or so, I have mostly gotten by as a result of paying attention when most other people were not, and by "being bothered" with a lot of things other people simply can't be bothered with.
I pay attention, and gather up all the "tiny bits" that typically fall into the gaps og being too small for professionals in particular fields to be "bothered" with taking on.
Of course, it wasn't a system I came up with on my own; I was inspired by a book I found on the end-of-day "steal me rack" at a local bookstore in Austin, Texas while I was living there. The book was called something like "555 Ways to Make $50-$200 a Week" and the basic premise was that this was a collection of business ideas, all of which were too small for anyone to make a full-time living at, but since they were low demand/low volume... you could pick five or more and run it all simultaneously... and make out pretty well.
And if one of them crashed and burned... well, you'd still have the others.
These days, I am mostly "bothered" with the very small amounts of all manners of tokens that have been created on our own Hive-Engine and somehow show up in our wallets there, from time to time. And over time, they do add up.
Look! A random bubble!
I get the sense that a lot of people "can't be bothered" because we are often talking about fractional cents... but it's basically free money. And in the course of a year, or several years, it suddenly becomes something.
I think about these things and find myself pondering that in "the old days" I would probably not have been a gold prospector... instead, I would have been "one of those" guys working the "tailings" of a large gold mine.
A friend of mine once asked me what the appeal of my life approach was... because it seemed like an awful lot of work to him. I considered that question for a while, and realized that one of my favorite "things" or "occupations" in life is taking "essentially NOTHING" and turning it into SOMEthing of value.
And I think that's ultimately what my "opportunism" is all about.
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!
How about YOU? Are you an opportunist... or "opportunity seeker?" Or do you leave that to others? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20211103 01:18 PDT
0388/1629
I admire your life approach.
It is chilled, free from the norm, and flexible.
I am still in my mid-twenties and I find the traditional approach boring. I am currently walking your path as I resigned from a job that paid me well but was constantly messing with my mental health.
You are doing this and it is inspiring to someone like me, coming up, and trying to find myself in a world that tries to box and condition you to fit into the norm.
Thank you for such an invaluable post @denmarkguy.
'Shameless Opportunist', saying this to yourself takes a lot of guts. Some people will get triggered if we call them for their act. And being bothered, what can I say. I usually don't get bothered by anything but sometimes.
It was a good read.