What seems different in yourself; that's the rare thing you possess. The one thing that gives each of us our worth, and that's just what we try to suppress. And we claim to love life.
- Andre Gide

Ultimately, the objective is to live in such a way that you serve both your life and the lives of others. That may seem obvious, but it has serious, deep implications. Great work requires time for quiet contemplation, a still point out of which to evolve. You can’t do that if your work is all-consuming. 

I love a broad margin to my life. Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumacs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sing around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveler’s wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time. I grew in those seasons like corn in the night, and they were far better than any work of the hands would have been.
      - Thoreau, Walden. (See also Thoreau And The Art Of Life)

Without that “broad margin”, Walden would not have been the towering work it was. The time he spent sitting in his doorway thinking, rapt in revery, gave his work its power.

When you create your own work, your own livelihood, independent of corporate America and the dominant culture one rule stands above all others. Work can’t have a broad margin without also being unique. Otherwise, living life on your own terms is a struggle, all-consuming or half ass. Closely related to that, you need to live in harmony with you inner world. So much of living a quality life relates in some way to spending your time so that you are in harmony with the current of energy that underlies your life. The objective is live in such a way that your psychic energy, your physical, intellectual and spiritual energy are enhanced by all that you do. Or almost all. Every path has its setbacks and challenges. You need to be prepared for those, and not get discouraged and give up. Especially early on.

Also crucial, know your tribe. Who do you serve? What group of humans light up your imagination? What group of humans can you pour your heart and soul into serving? Who do you want to celebrate life with? Who do you respect and want to learn from? The importance of these questions varies, I imagine, person to person. For me, they are crucial. Unless I’m in harmony with the people I serve, or a vast majority of them, I can’t do my best work. I need to serve people I respect. I fully understand that this is not a crucial consideration for others. What is important is knowing where you stand, where you can do your best work. 

I am a person of contradictions. My work, at its best, embodies a contradiction. Yours may not, but my work pursues two contrary paths: people living on some edge or other, people who embrace risk – calculated risk – with the objective of getting a lot out of life, and work of harmony and beauty. Both paths are absolutely crucial to me. Together, they give my work and life energy. When I follow just one of those paths, my work loses energy. My life loses energy.

What gives your life energy? What song can only you sing? We want to hear that from you.

For more thoughts on making a living in some unique way, visit here.