Best Pay Cut Of My Life

As the future unfolds before me, it looks like I'll be heading back to the simple life. There's a 90% chance that I'm going to be going back to work for my long time friends at Happy Boy Farms - selling the freshest and most delicious organic fruits and vegetables!

If I take the job, I'll be making about 3 times less than I made teaching workshops and seminars, 10 times less than I made doing private coaching, and about 40 times less than what I could make if I followed some of my friends into the marijuana growing business. Uh oh, I said "marijuana" so I better explain. Well, these days, it's possible to grow marijuana "legally" through the legal loopholes in California. I've met a number of people who do it, and they make a ton of very real money. But, I didn't want to compromise myself for money. I didn't want to compromise myself for anything in this vast world of abundance we live in. In fact, not only will I be making less money than all these other opportunities, but I'll even be making $2 per hour less than when I had the same job five years ago!

So, why is it the best pay cut of my life? Because it's an absolute joy to give up the extra money in exchange for the perfect job for me right now. If all goes as planned, I'll work Saturday and Sunday every week (for about 10-12 hours per day). Then, I'll take Monday and Friday as days for personal errands (email, etc.). And, I can take Tuesday through Thursday to spend on personal meditation retreat (at home, no phone, no email, nothing but me and the redwoods)

And, that brings me to the next point - I'll be living in the Redwoods! I don't think I've ever found the Buddha anywhere more than in Redwood trees. My mom will hopefully be generous enough to let me stay in her cabin up here in Felton, CA (where I am now). In fact, I just spent yesterday, all day, in meditation here and I loved it! It's so quiet, and so peaceful, and so alive. A cabin in the woods - my dream come true.

I always loved working for Happy Boy Farms too. I really think that eating fresh local organic produce is one of the most important things any of us can do for our planet and our bodies. I don't think the ecological and health benefits of this simple act can be understated, and it seems like a very important task to help bring the food from the farms to people's homes. It's a simple job, but one of the very crucial ones in our society, I believe.

Not to mention the perks - free veggies!

It's generally a seasonal job, as most of the Farmer's Markets will end come wintertime. So, in November I'll have a chance to move on with my journey.

I'm planning to work this Sunday at one of the San Francisco markets and see how it goes. Next week, I'll be up at Abhayagiri Monastery for a few days, and then back to work again. I'm sure I'll keep posting on how it all goes.

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.
- Henry David Thoreau