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Universal Basic Income
My encounter with UBI
A very personal experience
( Like a dream )
Dear UBI
😉
At first you’ve been just an idea I have heard about here and there.
And then you popped up more and more on my screen, in the news, in conversations.
An Idea, i noticed.
A good idea, I thought.
A very good idea, actually!
Visionary idea, futuristic idea.
A possible idea.
An Idea whose time had not come.
Yet.
Obviously the times are not so bad yet, economically. Not bad enough. At least not in the West. The industrialized Nations. The Middle Class.
The Wealth Gap has not become too perverse for people to really take notice and revolt.
Most of us still manage to get by and pay our bills.
Somehow 🙄
But hey! Me personally, I have never been in the Middle Class. Or any class, for that matter.
Rather and outlier, an “Alien in New York”.
Never significantly paid taxes, at least not for a relevant amount of time.
Never paid into retirement.
Not even health insurance, for most of my adult life.
And yet, I survived just fine.
And more than survive, I lived my life just as I envisioned it. Doing what my heart / my Dharma / my Path wanted me to do.
No complains.
Was it always easy to live “The un-secured Life”? The “insecure life”?
Not really, sometimes it was more like hanging on by the fingernails, just about making it.
Living by Grace is an experience, I can tell you.
Trusting the Universe no matter what, having faith in God or the Divine against all logic.
Praying was sometimes the only way to go.
But hey! I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I acquired many skills and abilities.
A few professions as well.
I lived my Spirituality in real existential moments.
And what more do I want?
Well, to be totally honest now, it takes a toll, this un-secured life.
Life without a money on the bank, walking on air with no strings attached.
Being ready to walk on water because faith creates miracles when they are needed.
Or not.
Sometimes it implied to eat my own pride und be humble, ask for money, ask friends to bail me out.
Ot take a loan, go into debt. Not knowing when I can repay.
This kind of thing.
It takes a lot of nerve to live like that, a lot of cool.
😎
But my actual nerves, they don’t get any younger.
With 70+ …
But then …
Out of The Blue you came!
UBI UBI UBI!
Totally unexpected, out of the left field so to say, you appeared in my life.
Not as an abstract idea, but as actual cash in my purse!
Is it divine grace, is it a cosmic experiment or is it just because a good friend – a good soul – offered me a gift for my 70. birthday .
Whatever it is, this is it. For now.
For a year I have 1000 bucks every month, no questions asked, no strings attached.
My very own UBI 🙂
You may be able to imagine my surprise.
It was literally blowing my mind.
Literal tears.
Joy!
And quickly, the YES!
For now it does not need to be a utopia for me!
And some day it could be real for many people and the solution for “so many of the ills of our society”.
So, what is it for me, whats the actual experience of UBI.
A (unexpected) deep sense of release. Like the tensions of a guitar string that’s strung too high, all of a sudden tuned down to its rightful pitch.
Now only did I realize that – in a way – I was always out hustling. Secretly. Looking for the next customer to show up, needing a consultation a therapeutic intervention. Hoping to meet somebody who would need a new website.
Now I experience a level and kind of freedom that I have not had before.
Its a subtle change.
My life and activity is not different from “before”.
I don’t do other things, I done spend more money than usual.
I still do my work as ever, help people straighten out their life, gettin over the crisis, the drama.
Really not much has changed, 1000 bucks in Costa Rica are not that much. Life is expensive here.
But on every beginning of a new month it makes a great difference! It is a joy now to be able to give the rent money to my landlady, exactly on the 1. Not on the 10. Or ask her again to be patient with me ;-D
I can even save a little every month, maybe to buy something extra sometime.
A piano maybe one day, or take a trip to …
Or pay back some of my debt.
Some such elemental joys!
Another thing I greatly cherish now:
I can afford – to a certain extent – to be generous with money.
In small ways only, I confess!
Like inviting a friend for lunch out.
Or something …
I have always liked to give, in many ways.
This is how I am and who I am.
But when it came to giving cash to somebody in need, I always felt squeezed between the need of this person, my desire to help, and the fact that I did just have enough money to cover my next rent.
What a dilemma!
Please understand me right! I am not throwing money around and onto the next beach-bum who wants to buy a beer ; )
But I can help on occasion.
And that is wonderful.
And now another thing I notice. Concerning my creativity. Concerning ideas. Concerning being open to inspiration and the spiritual realm:
Inspiration and creative juices are flowing better than ever.
Probably this is also a result of the deep relaxation of my nervous system that you brought to me.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
UBI
UBI
UBI
😀