More of What We Subsidize

     From my radio days I recall the saying “You get more of what you subsidize” …Meaning being, toss money (time or energy) at a problem and you’ll get more of the same problem. It was a political commentary, usually spoken by conservatives speaking against the welfare state, but as a matter of physics and even a spiritual principle, I think there is merit to the concept.

     Case in point: if I spend more time on email, I get more email. If I spend more time on FB, I get more FB friends and replies and comments (which only makes me want to friend, reply and comment back). On the other hand, if I spend more time in the garden, I get more garden…If I invest quality time with friends, guess what? I get more quality friendships. I found in talk radio, we invested a lot in anger and controversy, and guess what? We got more anger and controversy…even rage.

     I have here of late, stopped, stepped back, and started observing my life both from the perspective of the one living it, but likewise, as an observer to this play I’m living over here, and well…as an observer I’d say it’s out of balance.  My schedule is overly consumed by bowl washing, dishwashing, dog-brushing, goat hugging, weed-pulling, (fill in the blank….I could go on) Point being, these tasks alone, for one person, could consume a life, and as it pertains to me, well it doesn’t take much to make me a total loner anyway. (I’m convinced I was a monk in a prior life.) 

       But THIS life won’t let me be a loner, because for all the things I subsidize (i.e. invest my time and money in…afore mention list for starters) there’s no way to continue doing these well without reaching to others for help. There is simply too much to do to keep a farm afloat. A truck here, a hoist there…someone to eat all this frickin’ vegetation for instance…At the end of the day, I didn’t come to the “It takes a village” notion by design. I came here kicking and (silently) screaming by necessity.

      Now what to do?

      My initial baby step out of this quagmire started with a conscious decision to go back; regroup…check in with the friends I used to hang with…touch base with those, some my family, some my age--dealing in life challenges all their own and asking (in my best Joey Tribiani voice ~)  “How YOU doo-win?”

       Turns out…everybody's doing a lot like me. They’re overwhelmed. They’ve got piles stacking up, space in need of maintenance…They’re stretching budgets and paychecks…stretched way too thin for the amount of time they have to do it all in. They’re taking on more commitments but generating less time/energy/desire to keep maintaining said commitments if they hope to do them well. In short they too, are starting to ask “Wouldn’t it all be simpler if I…well…simplified?”

       So my subsidizing project for this week is simplification. Some have gone so far as to call it minimalizing. I’m reading up on it. I’m not quite there yet…It’s quite the process letting go of a lifetime of habits tied to material things (insert George Carlin skit here about "Stuff" ~). But I AM starting to take note.

       If it’s true that I get more of what I subsidize (or invest my time and energy in) well, it stands to reason that I should be investing in a) relationships that matter b) time well spent c) things that make me peaceful d) projects that bring about all of the above, worthy of follow through and perhaps a little more research.

      For me these moments come when I subsidize silence. So silence is likewise on my subsidy list this week. (Face it. We don’t do enough of it. In fact, we may be scared of it. For me, I tend to lean addictive on the matter.)

      But today I returned to silence my old friend and guess what ? Even the smallest investment nets an immediate return. I got little more of it~ which, in the end, helped to bring about new silent concepts to ponder… a few new things to think about.