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Is New Age Really So New Age At All Or A Big Moneymaker?

I fell in love with a former girlfriend for a whole new reason, that is, a different reason than when I'd had the one before her. It had nothing to do with looks, money, social standing, or anything like it. She had gone through a similar struggle as me, actually one much larger in scope, and not only survived but prospered as a major Beverly Hills Attorney. I, struggled as a writer and cartoonist for several decades, not such a dramatic story as hers, and finally "made it". People ask us often, "How did you do what you did"? (they ask her much more so than me). The one thing we agreed upon was developing organizational skills, having a plan, and acting.

I guess you could say I am better at Internet marketing than she is, but that is only because that is what I studied when I went back to school. There is little doubt she could pick it up in no time if she had the spare time to learn it, or the interest.

I, on the other hand, though a bit clumsy and not as organized, have managed to create some exciting things on the Internet. But, if not for the Internet, I do not think they would exist. One, for instance is the largest cartoon website which lures about 4000 visitors per hour or 4.5 million people per year. From that I've expanded it into 5 different e-stores with my cartoon products (over 80,000 of them in 23 different categories). I invented and have a patent pending on the world's first fully-automated medical device. I did not get rich (but I do make a lot more money than I did before I took action, conjured a little confidence and started from ground zero. (I was working out of an abandoned warehouse in rural Ms. but that's a whole other story).

My ex and I are alike in so many ways and not alike in others. When I was young, I was quite the "car person"; loved fast cars and even raced them at the track. But today, I'm happy at age 53 with my four cylinder Saturn and she's happy trading in her new Mercedes for another one every year.

I live in the Ouachata Mountains in Arkansas. She says we "think small" and work too hard for too little. I wish Sam Walton could hear our conversations regarding "small-thinking people from Arkansas".

We differ in our opinions of "New Age". I have lived in Southern California so I realize all that is a way of life. But I also, hopefully, am savvy enough to realize that the majority of it is ancient biblical history, reworded ever so carefully, and packaged beautifully to make the new guru rich. And it works. And hopefully Oprah will endorse it, and the guru will live happily ever after.

Being an ex S. Californian, and please forgive me all you out there who don't fit that discription, New Age was, more or less a way of life. But if one takes the time to do a little research, most New Age is actually Ancient Age and simply reworded, slickly packaged and custom built to make a new guru wealthy. This new "The Secret" takes the cake, sort of a "Think it and they will come"; no action needed, simply attract it with thought. Okay. P.T. Barnum would love to know the buyers of this package. Sorry Oprah, I know you endorse it, but......let's think this through. Hard persistent work is the key to any success; not "law of attraction"; though I will admit, law of attraction does follow hard pesistent work, but I think they are putting the horse before the cart.

Life is what it is. I can't debate with her about income. If I want to make more, I will promote my business more, go to law school, or both. A good lawyer, historically, makes a better income than a good cartoonist and e-tailer. But I don't like law. Grew up with plenty of lawyers in my family and though they made a great living, very few of them enjoyed it. In fact several quit and one never even practiced after daddy paid for law school. So it goes.

She wants me to "live the dream". Ok ok. I don't like that term. It sounds so MLM-sh and I feel like I'm in Egypt starting a Pyramid scheme. But I digress.

Carl Jung was in full agreement. He felt it wonderful to live a spiritual life and live in the now as well. Too much attention on dreams can make "Johnny a dull boy", just like too much attention on reality can too. There has to be a balance. And that is an art. And that art, like any skill, can be learned.

He purveys the caveat that it will never be utopia no matter how "pristine the dream". So, what to do?

I think the thing to do is "do what you like". For some people, the dream is money. Back when Nelson Rockefeller was one of the richest if not the world's richest persons, he was asked, "How much money is enough?" He answered, "Just a little bit more."

I make less money now working at home than I did in the big city corporate world. That is just fine with me. I love working in my jogging suit. I love being able to stretch, make coffee, and take a long walk when I feel like it. I love that the Internet allows me to make an income based on past work, my products sell by others who are affiliates. They make good money and so do I. I can sit back now, and create work for others and myself. I had to work hard every day for a decade to allow that to happen. You may be a faster learner, but it took me awhile to figure it out.

It is insightful to read autobiographies of captains of business such as Bill Gates and others. They struggled too. They had many missteps along the way, many failures. They discuss them. It was those mistakes that led them to finally do it right. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite before he invented his famous prize. It was for blowing up mountains to build cities. When he learned the military was using it for killing people he fell into a depression. That is not how he wanted to go down in history. So he re-invented himself. So can you. So can I.

I suggest never to choose friends based on their bank accounts. I used to do so, and was trained to do so and always heard "You can't make money off of people who don't have money". That tired old cliche is a dreadful lesson. You *can* make money working with people who don't have much money. If they have a hard work ethic, and honesty and so do you, you'll make much more, and have a lot more fun doing it.

Each of us have different dreams.

Whatever your dreams and goals, try to forget some of the things our parents taught us. We now live in a "live and let live world". No more sales tactics. The ultra-sales gurus are old news.

Even though I am living my reality, I am also living my dream, not somebody else's. I have my own hours and I work at my own pace, which is twice as hard as any boss ever asked out of me. The difference is I love what I do. So my reality is a dream in many ways.

"To thine own self be true", Shakespeare said. It was a short sentence but a most memorable one, and memorable for a good reason. If we learn nothing else about life, that statement describes life. If we are not who we really are, we are the walking-dead, striving to be someone else. It is not a fun way to live, though way too many buy into it.

If you are true to yourself, you will be happy, rich or not.

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