Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Gweneth Paltrow....You Go Girl

This Morning I was listening to a bunch of radio commentators lament the fact that Gweneth Paltrow has opened a new art Studio to which folks can pay to become members. According to the radio chatter, it's entry fee is a cool $1000 bucks plus another $1000 per year in membership fees plus more money if you want to attend one of the art classes.

I wish I could recall, the actual name of the radio show, as that would be all good and proper to give credit...but alas, I wasn't really paying attention as to precisely which radio show I was listening to.

Anywho, the only reason I am talking about this idea at all, is because I wanted to respond to the flow of resentment that seemed to be gushing onto the airwaves from such an eye rolling (yawn) commentary.
There seemed to be the thought by the commentators that Gweneth Paltrow is "out of touch" with the common man, and the, attitude of "how dare Gweneth start up a collective that isn't aimed at the lower or middle classes of humanity." type to 'tude.  To which, I must start to sigh and do a little bit of eye rolling myself.

Why is it, whenever a wealthy person sets up something that is marketed only to the wealthy, that it seems to upset those who clearly wouldn't buy such a product or service in the first place? Must every product be priced according to what "every human" can afford? Can't the rich just enjoy their wealth once in a while? Must they always hide it and act like we are all the same?

Now don't get your socks in a knot just yet. Yes, I believe we are all equal in the eyes of God. However,we are all at different stages in terms of where we fall on a financial scale. That's neither good nor bad....it just IS. Therefore, our ability and freedom to spend is influenced by where we are located on that financial scale. And again...that, in my humble opinion, is neither good nor bad....it just IS.

So let me just vent for a second. If someone has the means and social celebrity to build an ART collective that caters to those with high discretionary incomes....why is that wrong? Don't we want the wealthy to spread their money around? Don't we celebrate when folks don't hoard their wealth but prefer to spend it well?

I am all about personal freedom of choice, when it comes to wealth and it's expenditure. If someone can afford to spend millions of dollars on a private jet and hire personal assistants across the globe, well that's cool with me. When the wealthy spend their money it's better for all of us. Money is intended to circulate, to be spent, invested, lent and poured forth upon the earth....and if you're in Richard Branson's club,....you might even be spending/sending your good cash into space.. I get a good chuckle out of how a lot of folks spend their money. I don't resent it in the least when someone spends their fortune on some product or club to which I don't belong.

Yes, freedom of speech still rocks and folks are taking full advantage of it now-a-days on the radio and inter net, but there is also a time to just let things go and let freedom reign. When you decide to overspend on
eye cream and gold plated lint rollers.... I promise not to roll my eyes. ;)

In Peacful productivity,
Carla




Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Fave Sharpies and a Pencil..



This is my latest experiment with my fave Sharpies and a regular pencil on paper.Thirty minutes later Voila.....I call him Pierre.
When you get a hankering to doodle...what are your tools of choice?

Peaceful Productivity,
Carla


Sunday, April 5, 2015

Kinda Disappointing.... Mr. Ferriss

 The writings, books and podcasts, and blogs of Tim Ferris have been nothing short of an adventurous inspiration for me for many years. How many of us, after having read "The Four Hour Work Week" thought to ourselves.....well if Tim Ferris can figure out how to do it....then why not me?

But this week, I was saddened to receive an email from Tim's people alerting me to a new podcast that Tim had published on his blog.....It featured a guest speaker who advocated the use of psychedelic drugs....for non-medicinal purposes.

Why must one of the most adventurous Thinkers on the planet delve into the dark side of foolish humanity?
There's more than enough drug abuse occurring all over the world..... We really don't need people to start considering taking drugs for even more uses and abuses. Really Tim what are you thinking?
Your teachings are read and "followed" by so many humans across the world....do you really want to be leading your vulnerable readers/students down that slippery slope?

Tim, I hope you realize that when you hold a position in the world as a "leader", you carry a greater responsibility for what you suggest to folks. Tim Ferriss' status brings about an undeniable influence that many thousands of people will blindly follow his suggestions, whether they have clearly thought through the pros and cons of it all or not.

It is a fortunate or unfortunate result of fame (depending on how you look at it) that folks will follow the ideas and suggestions of anyone who has achieved a certain level of celebrity and/or financial success. Therefore it is essential for those who find themselves in such a powerful position in the world to tread more carefully in terms of what they advocate as an acceptable pursuit or lifestyle.

Fortunately I don't require all those whose "stuff" I read to abide by my own set of expectations. Whenever I search for mentors or inspiring writers/thinkers I meander about...... I pick and choose the nuggets that I can really chew on and then literally spit out the rest. I can't use what I don't believe in. So actually, yes, I will continue to read Tim's blog and/or podcast but it is not without my cautionary flag waving.


Peacefully productive
Carla