[Today, a guest post from Kris Harkos. Find his work at hiphophour.net]
Everyone knows, and some even love, the iconic garden gnome. But what do they even do? We see pictures all the time of them doing all sorts of things, but they never actually move or do anything.
That’s the same way with most people who talk about living a free life, or really anyone who mentions wanting freedom. We all know these people, and honestly, some of you may be one of them. I know I used to be.
There was a time when I talked all day about freedom and issues with the system, yet I did nothing to get freedom in my life. I switched jobs multiple times to increase my income and hope for happiness. Only to get fed up and look for another job a short time later.
I used to make posts and share other people’s posts that complained about this and that. I would have heated debates with people in the comments over philosophy and politics, Yet still went miserably to work at my job the next day. I voted for Obama in ’08, then Gary Johnson in ’12, and Trump in ’16, just trying to get change in my life. However, I only get upset when those people and institutions don’t affect my life.
I was Gnomeadic. Just like the picture of the garden gnome I posted with this. At a glimpse, I was all about doing whatever to get freedom, but in reality, I just stood there looking fierce. Like a garden gnome, I did not move unless someone else moved me. I went with opportunities presented to me but rarely created my own opportunity. As they say, I had my umbilical cord out, looking for someone to plug in to. But then I changed my mindset. I decided to take my life into my own hands.
For me, change first meant creating a podcast. After building that up, an opportunity opened for me to start making my own music again. As time went on, this mindset shift led to my learning of more information than I was trying to learn in college for my business degree, which I previously dropped out of years prior due to redundancy and outdated, worthless information.
I also switched from working routine jobs to doing food delivery for places like Grubhub, Uber Eats, and such for my income. This was one of the toughest changes and a massive stressor at first because my income fluctuated from week to week, but with time, that stress lessened. I now have more control over my life and am now fully in an entrepreneurial mindset. I am also adding to my arsenal for this war of life by creating multiple sources of income, but the battle is only getting started.
I also stopped participating in the political system and pretty much stopped focusing on any of it in general. I realized that the government is going to do whatever they want, regardless of what I say or do. So I made the conscious decision that I would live my life and do what I want and not worry about them. I’m building a life where I am isolated and insulated as much as possible from what they do. Don’t get me wrong, I still keep an eye on what the government is doing; I would be foolish not to. However, instead of fighting them, I am simply observing and adjusting my life accordingly to stay off of their radar, lose their grip and live as free as possible.
I made the transition from being gnomeadic to being nomadic. Now I am not anywhere near where I want to be; however, I am on the right trajectory to get where I wanted to be all this time. With some hard mindset shifts, I was able to actually make a fundamental change in my life. I was able to break the ceramic shell around me that kept me gnomeadic, and now I have learned that I can become truly nomadic.
My advice to anyone reading this who feels like they are in a situation of being gnomeadic, but want to become nomadic, is this. Start taking steps. Every step in the direction you wish to go is progress that gets you towards your goals. If you don’t start taking steps, you will never get anywhere. Don’t be that garden gnome just standing there waiting for someone to pick them up and move them to a different area. Don’t waste your time and energy protesting or trying to enact political change. Break your ceramic shell built around you and learn that you can move freely and go where you want to go. You just have to change your mindset, make hard choices, gain some knowledge, and take steps.