Just to elaborate on this a bit, If I get paid to do something, work a certain amount of hours, or reach a goal, I will do my best to achieve that, but doing more is whoever hiring you, stealing from you. When I say this, I always get, "Well, what about doctors and nurses" I think their labor should also not be exploited. I don't want health care workers to have to try to save lives on the 16th hour of a double. Just because something is a way, doesn't mean it's a good way.

On the other side of this is hobbies, passions, and interests, I think you should be able to pour as much into something yoy genuinely care about as is healthy for you, without having to prove you are good at it or make money off of it, if you don't want to. If you want to, more power to you!

@RickiTarr

I dont need to excel?

excuse me very much

i need to spreadsheet until i die. spreadsheets are life.

for example....

wait what was your original point? nvm it doesnt matter im gonna make a spreadsheet about spreadsheets

@RickiTarr

I just heard about chess boxing.

Invented by a guy who was ok at chess and at boxing but would never be the best. But he could be the best at the combination of both.

I'm sure that if I combined enough of my more quirky skills I could be close to the best.

( If that mattered to me 😀)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_boxing

@RickiTarr Largely agree. Sometimes we must submit to the stranglehold system that wants to capture our every movement and thought.

As much as possible, operate with intrinsic motivation not extrinsic validation.

@RickiTarr but…I want to be the very best.

Like no one ever was.

@RickiTarr but but but The Karate Kid taught me I should be "the best around" and date Elizabeth Shue!

https://genius.com/Joe-esposito-youre-the-best-lyrics

@RickiTarr

Just doing my silly little programming things that are not monetizable, but I enjoy them, so I hear you.

@RickiTarr Thank you for this. I've been working on deprogramming what I was pressured to value from high school right up through when I left NASA.

It feels good to finally just exist, 30 years later, growing the garden of my life, reflecting on rounds of learning, finally settling in.

I know what I enjoy. Knew all along: I want the tangible world, hands-on skills, conversations passing neighbours in daily work. But these days, it takes deliberate practice to keep these values.

@RickiTarr

This is to live!

@RickiTarr I heard someone say "You aren't a human DOING, you are a human being."

My twisted brain thought "That's what lazy people say!"

I say my tragic flaw is my inability to monetize my fame as an ACTIVIST. Even though my activism & methods cost RW media 100's of millions of dollars in lost revenue, I thought "If I was smarter I'd gotten rich, since that's the only metric that counts in America.
But it's nice to know my work inspired people https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/5/4/1088413/community/Rush-Limbaugh-Backlash-Evolves-Grows/
https://www.spockosbrain.com/about/

@RickiTarr

i'm reluctant to post this just bc it was from when i first joined social media on bsky after the election to be part of the "Resistance"

The sentiment still applies. But Mastodon is the Better social media 😁💙

@RickiTarr

I once had a popular, informative website. My friends couldn't believe I wouldn't try to monetise it. It was a lot of work to maintain, but fun. My plentiful rewards came from feeling good about sharing my knowledge. 🤷‍♂️

That was enough.

@RickiTarr

long time no say hi.

i hope all is well with you.

i concur.

“Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”

― Kurt Vonnegut

@RickiTarr

I heard someone use the phrase "satisficing," and I love it. Let me drive my car until it dies. Let me be bad at guitar. I'm a recovering perfectionist, and I need this.