puporing

Hey I'm working on something similar too! Urban farms to be more exact. Glad there are like minds out there! I am in the middle of finding suitable land to farm right now.

@Lauritz From a job/career perspective, I may no longer be directly applying my degree. But I think my business is related in many ways and a lot of my previous work experience will come in handy. I think starting your business you have to wear so many hats so I'm sure your experience in that field will be useful, if nothing else working at an organization did teach me about running a business and people. I think yeah it's not easy if you went to school for that specific kind of job, I definitely felt like a lot of my years could've been used somewhere else had I had those insights sooner. But that's perhaps what we have to go through in life to learn what we truly want. I think if I had a really cushy job right out of school it might've taken me longer to realize some things. We all change and it sounds like it's change for the better. It takes courage to pave your own path, but it'll be worth trying vs feeling like spending most of the day at work just for a paycheck. You could also think about the business more while you're still working, like doing some research on the side, and then take the plunge if that works better. Some people go part time first before taking the full plunge if you can negotiate something like that with the company.

@Lauritz If you're in a bad money situation (like having debt), I would say stick it out until it's paid off.. But it doesn't sound like that is the case. I quit a job in my field of study (which I thought was my life purpose) mostly because the company I worked for was unethical, so what you would call low conscious job after I realized that. It was the best decision I've made and I wouldn't go back for the money (yes I'd rather work a lesser paid job), I would've quit earlier if not for my living situation. Now I am working on starting my own business. So I do think it's a trade off of your precious time. I think it's REALLY hard on you once you reach a certain level of consciousness to stay at such jobs, it's like living in-congruently with your values and it does hurt your self-esteem to not live truly to yourself.

@nexusoflife I can relate to just about every statement there and have gone through a similar period of learning and becoming aware of what goes on around us. There are however, hopeful stories around us as well and I seek to be part of those from day to day. Every little action counts and feels empowering if you follow through on what feels integral to you - such as working for an employer that you feel is contributing to a greater cause than itself, starting your business that will help solve some of these problems, choosing to live minimalistically, etc (or like being vegetarian as you've mentioned). One thing I feel positive about is the role the internet is playing in raising the collective conscious or in making such endeavor more accessible to those who seek it. As well it is more possible now to be in business for yourself than previous days and to create industries that were never dreamt of before. I still suffer from depression but I think taking steps/actions to live the way I envision helps with that. Could start by creating a vision of what you want your life and your work/contribution to look like (this is touched upon in Leo's course as well). Having a vision helps to motivate you to take actions towards that. Hope that helped!

@rush I just got out of my past job into a government and nonprofit type organization. I think your work environment and the visions the organization has plays a big role! I'd say do lots of research into the organization before entering, or you know, keep looking for one that you could maximize alignment with your values or what would make it fulfilling. I think it just depends on what you want out of a job, a lot of people might see it as something that pays for bills or you know, status/prestige.

Feel the same way! I think the key there might be to find someone who is at least open-minded enough to have the potential to grasp those works and be able to talk about them. Open-mindedness is probably what got a lot of us on this journey in the first place.

@rush I thought I followed my "passions" by getting a degree in a field of a long term interest, and then pursuing a job in that field. The problem I am facing now is not so much I am not in the field of choice or doing the work I thought was my life purpose, but not being able to have input in my work (ie, creating very standardized work products that have little to no individuality/thought), and not being able to keep expanding my skills/mastery in a corporate environment (ie, I don't have the freedom to offer another service to clients whenever I could or specialize in an area of interest). And it is the nature of most giant corporations with inflexible management systems, they are not made to be "individualistic". So now I think differently about the whole idea of going through school to get a job, some days it feels like a lot of time has gone to waste, but sometimes you learn these lessons the hard way by experiencing them, which is what got me here I think. It's never too late though to be creative and contribute in your own unique way! Don't give up.