Friday 3/5/2021
Personal: Finance, introspection
-Do I really know enough to offer investing advice to others? Amber and Shelly’s friend in Cali wants help getting started. Will any of my experience translate to a market like California? Will the R&M and CapX rules of thumb still work? Is the California market as inflated as ours? They have more strict eviction bans, so I assume that causes the same shortage we have that is inflating prices.
-Stable chaos, and the luck of having a loving family. On the journey of figuring out how my life has ended up so amazingly unique, I often think through the various major life events that shaped how I think, and who I am. No life is stress free, and somehow along the way I learned that if embraced, it can actually lead to huge character growth. I suppose the first token of luck comes from an inherited stoic philosophy. My dad’s side of the family embodies a quiet, sturdy, humble, eagle scout, community leader. Full of ingenuity and understanding of physical woodcraft. A life agnostic towards God, freed up thinking effort to spend on understanding third person epistemics (base reality).
-Mom’s side, a little more traditional, but in all the most loving ways. Hard working, small community, farm folk is probably a tad cliche, but reasonably accurate. Access to land for exploration was definitely a huge added bonus. Not going to lie, I have always had a little jealousy towards Austin’s closer connection with that part of the family, but have understood for a while that it was mostly due to an age difference between cousins. Although not particularly religious today, some of my happiest memories are from the group activities facilitated by church organization. Summer camp was always a highlight of the summer. I still think it would be fun to go back and be a summer camp counselor. I also have fond memories of Camp Hiawatha, which was run through the Salvation army. I guess the point is, group play and adventure was another of those lucky character shaping processes that I had ample access to.
-Trusted to bike/ walk to school and friend’s houses.
-Allowed ample opportunity to spend time with others, including extended stay. Also allowing the space to do the same hosting duties.
-Provided a fun, unique, expansive literal & metaphorical sandbox to share with friends or enjoy alone.
-Almost perfect mix of outdoor/ physical activity vs technical/ creative play. Learning through video games and craft type toys (Linkin Logs, Legos, Kennects, etc).
-At times a little too much push for extra-curriculars, but unlimited support for any dream. Helped me learn that I enjoy 10% of everything, instead of pursuing mastery of one thing. Surprised how useful that 10% is across subjects, and how easy it is to get more understanding than 90% of people.
-Genetic lottery for physical adeptness. Natural skills across most sports, and good coordination with the assistance from modern tech like contacts.
-Divorced parents provided great lessons in communicating feelings. Smart to not fear letting go if you can’t be happy. Fairly clean separation compared to horrors of others. Both sides are stable, and provide better access to each other's true life philosophy. Without the ability to “correct” each other, both parents became more fully themselves. The access to differing opinions, and loving both sides, freed me long ago from the us vs them trap that is consuming this world. Created more gray areas for me to operate and explore the lessons of life. While also providing safe stability when I made mistakes.
-On one hand, having a whole-life home, and on the other a new place every few years (Including new school districts). I think being the new kid is a whole other series of stressful, but useful benefits, although I suppose that depends on circumstance and personality.