on my mind #1: "there's no such thing as a free lunch"

Me... chomping on delicious sandwich for lunch in Milano, Italy when I was there to receive my furniture design award recently. :)

This one has been on my mind A LOT lately:

"There's no such thing as a free lunch"

And by A LOT, let's say I've been stewing on this ... for years.  There are quite a few topics that sit in my head for long periods of time, where I analyze hypothesis I have/hear about, looking for loopholes and exceptions to the rule.  No, there is absolutely no exception to this one.  NOTHING is free.  NOTHING.  There is ALWAYS someone somewhere at some time that paid for whatever it is.

The seemingly "free" or extremely low priced stuff:
Stop.  Stop yourself and look at the situation very carefully - put on the hat that'll give your mind a bird's eye view of the situation:

That "buy one get one free" discounted burger/candy/soda/chicken...  Yes.  On top of the poor cow/animal/bird that suffered to provide the extremely cheap mass factory-produced by-product AND the huge environmental costs paid by our abused planet - there are health costs to you for ingesting that.  Animals cruelly treated in disgusting meat processing factories.  Farm land that could be used to grow healthy nutritious food squandered on growing cheap government subsidized corn.  Think about it.

Yes - this also applies to non-food products like clothes, shoes, jewelry, FURNITURE.  Think quality over quantity.  Someone, somewhere, is paying for that $5 shirt from Forever21.  Materials are being wasted and landfills are filling up quickly when you buy that $10 chair from IKEA.  You don't have to be an activist to have your voice heard - with EVERY action and purchase, you can consciously mindfully vote on where you invest your dollars and time.  Pay patronage to those craftsmen that still build art, clothes, and furniture the old school way, there's character and SOUL in that.  Make a difference starting NOW.

Get rich quick ideas:
Dudes and dudettes... that's like winning the lottery.  Fat chance.  Seriously, isn't there something else you can do with your cash/time/energy/hopes/dreams....? 

Ever read the book by Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers?  If not, read it.  His reference to the "10,000 hour rule" is very insightful.  I remember as a child, people everywhere would constantly refer to me as a child prodigy when it came to the piano.  Constantly. It was mostly due to hard work. For instance (for those classical music aware readers), at the age of 9/10, I was already rocking pieces like Chopin's Black Keys Etude and Bach's Italian Concerto - and by age 12, I was playing Lizst's Hungarian Rhapsody #6.  Thanks to the dedicated love and support of my amazing mother, I was practicing the piano ALL THE TIME: hours before school, during school, after school til very late, several lessons and master classes a week, trips to New York City.  Sometimes, I'd spend HOURS on one single  measure.  Even if you very conservatively estimate my hours of practice to be about 6 hours a day - that means by age 10, I had broken that 10,000 hour mark - where I was clocking 2,000-3,000 hours/year.  This is the training the helped shape who I am today - no doubt.  Don't skip the steps or even the in-between steps --- there's beauty and rewards for those that choose to do it right. 

You cheat and copy off of someone on your homework, an exam, opportunity to do your own research/work... etc..., you're very much cheating yourself.  Do your own work.  They say the key to success is 10% talent - the rest, 90% is all hard work.  Sweat.  Blood.  Heart.

This... I truly believe with all my heart.  I'd love to hear about your journeys, please message or comment!

xo,
Arry