When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, and later as a young(er) adult in the 90s, mental illness was a stigma. Most people didn’t talk about it much. If someone was seeing a therapist or psychiatrist, they kept this information to themselves. This has changed significantly. Now, it seems like having “anxiety”,…
Author: Steve Ainslie
Dirty Laundry
When I went on the road, one of the things I gave up was having a washer and dryer. I figured I would visit laundromats every few weeks and in between could hand wash my clothes if necessary. I had gotten gotten rid of a lifetime’s worth of heavy, bulky cotton clothing and replaced it…
Rage Against The Price Gouging
This year I learned that Rage Against The Machine reunited and is coming to Raleigh. Even though I’m not much of a concert fan, every video I’ve seen of an RATM concert makes me think I’d love to see them. I checked out ticket prices. Ticketmaster is advertising nosebleed seats behind the stage for $170!…
Social Distancing Again
How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World really struck a chord with me. The timing reminds me of the old adage, “When the the student is ready, the teacher appears.” The book has me thinking about my current relationships with friends and family as well as my former relationships the have fallen dormant over…
Nobody Owes You Anything
After reading the book “How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World“, I came across this letter that the author wrote to his daughter in 1966. I’ve included some excerpts below: …If I could give you just one thing, I’d want it to be a simple truth that took me many years to learn. If…
A Price For Everything
In his book, “How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World“, Harry Browne writes that there is a price to be paid for every choice we make and every action we take. He wrote that even when making carefully considered, deliberate, intentional choices that maximize our happiness, we pay a price. That price may be…
Porch People
When I was a little kid in Tamaqua, I spent a lot of time at my Grandma’s house and at my Aunt Essie’s house. They babysat me, they fed me and I slept over in their homes. They lived in a side by size duplex on Arlington Street in Tamaqua. Grandma and her family on…
Finding Freedom
I have been rereading the book “How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World“ by Harry Browne. It was written 49 years ago but I’m finding that the ideas and way of life he proposes applies as much today as the they did when he wrote the book in 1973. I won’t do a book…
Nobody Cares
In the Bronx Tale, Sonny, a mafia boss, takes a neighborhood kid under his wing. When the boy struggles with challenges from his father, his friends or society, Sonny say, “What they think doesn’t matter. They don’t care about you so why should you care about them? Nobody cares. Nobody cares.” I loved that movie….
Noncompete
I have never been very competitive. When I was a kid, winning races wasn’t important to me (luckily, since I was so slow my sister called me “Steven Turtle Ainslie”). Being first in line, being #1, beating my friends at games, or being the best didn’t motivate me. I derived much more satisfaction from accomplishing…