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Giving up the american life (time, money, and technology)?
For years I have been feeling lost in this world. I graduated high school with no career plan. I just started working and having fun with my hobbies. My role as a girl living in Canada is to find good work. Either by going to school or getting started in the trades. I just feel that the way of life here is disturbing, lost and wasteful. People cannot live here without money, we cannot get money without working, and we work on a set schedule and set time. I have been so stressed about money and paying bills. I feel like people are toxic. Always drunk, smoking and swearing. People sit on their couches and watch TV, we have our faces glued to the computer screen and we are glancing at our cell phones every few minutes. It's all about possessions, buying new technology, buying new clothes, buying a car to get to work, getting married and buying a house. It's a cycle, and I hate it.
My family has never been spiritual or religious. My step mom came into my life about 10-15 years ago, and I know she practices some kind of religion which is crossed with hinduism, and something else. She has always taught me about karma, the energy of thought, and how to act towards others. I am not christian and I don't believe in worshiping a particular god. When I was a little girl I felt that all life is sacred and valued. I stopped eating meat, I stopped smacking mosquitoes, I don't know how I found myself so young but I carried those beliefs into adulthood. Everyone in my family is your normal american/canadian. They are working, have houses, children, hobbies.... I just feel this is not me. This is not the life for me. I want to live a life where there is no money, no possesions, no cell phones everywhere you look. I feel like an outcast, I feel alientated. I feel like I am in the wrong time period. I feel like I am going crazy.
I just need to ask, is there a life that would be more suitable for what I am looking for? I feel like my life is killing me, like it is ripping out my soul. I always thought of learning more about religion and dedicating my life to become a monk. I want to live some place where people are in tune with the earth. There are so many cultures out there. Are there any good stories people have written about their journeys? Are there any religions I could look into? I saw a documentary about girls becoming nuns, and the life actually called out to me, however I am not christian and I cannot dedicate my life to something I don't beleive in. Has anyone ever put any thought into this? Know anyone who has?
I am not trying to rush into anything. I just want some ideas.
9 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavourite answer
Running away from problems will not solve our problems. In fact it will increase our problems.Neither by discarding or adding things in life , we can solve our problems.We are not given this life to add or discard material things. We are given this life to find out ourselves.If you miss this opportunity , you will lose the greatest opportunity in life in understanding yourself.For understanding oneself, the best suited life is a householders life.
Try to read the books " The Power of Now " and " Ancient Wisdom , Modern Insights".
- ☯≈♥∞☼Lv 71 decade ago
well..i can tell you that i had to quit my nice job and give up my nice home...give away all my crap...i fixed up my car so that it could get me cross country and i then got in a wreck and lost my car but still i made it out to the desert and stayed there for 6 months...i was given a car by a couple of angels in human form and given many new friends 2 of which are coming back in about a month to start a farm on some land and build tepees and raise chickens etc. and i have been invited so that is what i am doing. I am a firm believer that if you leave this world behind and surrender to experience then the right things will happen i.e. you will meet the right people. i think i know what would be perfect for you to meet some like minded people...you should join WWOOF...its a world wide organization or organic farmers...they are all over the world and you go work there for 4 hours a day and you get fresh organic food and a place to live and the company of good people. check it out http://www.wwoof.ca/ i know youtube has a bunch of videos on these little farms
you are not an outcast....well perhaps you are but when you are an outcast to a very corrupt society wouldnt you rather be an outcast then a supporter. honestly...i worry about people who so easily adjust to this crazy world.
"It's no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." Jiddu Krishnamurti
Source(s): i dont tell you my experience to boast i am telling you to encourage you and show you that you are not alone - ?Lv 61 decade ago
Visit a convent. There are numerous kinds, they do all sorts of work and you take a vow of poverty. Some nuns are the happiest people I know, and it always warms me when I talk to one, knowing how dedicated they are.
I will pray for your contemplation
- grapekoolaidLv 41 decade ago
You could always join a nice commune. There are many communities throughout the U.S. and Canada for people seeking simpler, self-sufficient lives
- ?Lv 61 decade ago
Nobody can live anywhere without money, unless they are a beggar.
Actually, there is a place where you can live the way you have stated, in the Himalayan Mountains. where you live in a village, and live off the land.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Sounds like life in a kibbutz might be for you
Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz - Anonymous1 decade ago
Amen sister. I wish more Americans would give that stuff up. I would suggest believing and learning more about God.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Give up twinkies!
