the middle finger project

What It’s About

“It’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”   – George Carlin

The Middle Finger Project (TMFP) does not, sadly, have anything to do with leather-clad bikers and/or obscene gestures.

In an effort to define the focus of this website by some sort of recognized labeling system, it fits under the categories of unconventional living, lifestyle design, personal development, and how those concepts intersect with world travel & a nomadic lifestyle.  But, in simple terms?

The Middle Finger Project is about excitement.

The Middle Finger Project was actually created to make a cordial statement against the unwarranted, unexamined “shoulds” in life–everything that we do on autopilot that doesn’t necessarily make sense, or make us happy, but that we–Americans–do out of societal obligation or expectation.  And just because a lot of people are doing something, doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do something.  It’s about sticking up for individual choice, and a critical examination of the lives we lead in order to make better choices in the future that will hopefully guide us in a more sound direction that aligns with our own personal visions–not the visions of everyone else.

It’s about encouraging you to start taking your dreams seriously, and to start doing more things that inspire and excite you (wants), rather than things that drain and bore you (shoulds). It is my assertion that the shoulds are where we go all wrong.  It’s the overdose of shoulds that are causing us to lead lives of mediocrity, lives that we are unhappy with but don’t know, exactly, how to fix.

I should be working more.  (Even if I need some time off to regroup and maintain my emotional well-being.)

I should get married soon.  (Or else I’ll be past my prime and no one will want me.)

I should really start having kids soon.  (Or else people will assume I’m defective.  Am I defective?)

Should, should should.  Man, that’s a lot of pressure.

The entire notion of should–and, subsequently, the ensuing guilt that follows–is a 100% made-up, fictitious concept. In other words, we might as well live our lives according to the rules in Cinderella’s castle.  It is a man-made social construction.  We figure that if everyone’s doing something, it must be the best way.  Which leads me to the following question: Are all of those shoulds actually bringing us meaning and excitement to our lives?  Or are we just going through the motions because?

If you’re anything like me, you don’t like doing anything just because.  Doing things just because is a waste of time, and a silly one at that.  As a matter of fact, doing anything that you’re not entirely passionate about is a waste of time.

On the other hand, what would happen if you were to slant your priorities toward wants instead of shoulds?  Go ahead, consciously make an effort to compare the two right now.  Are they the same?  Probably not.  This is what’s problematic.

In essence, The Middle Finger Project is about flipping a cordial bird to the shoulds.  (Potentially not so cordial at times, but the truth isn’t always civil, nor diplomatic.)

Our time on this earth is limited, and as such, we need to recognize the delicate preciousness of every passing moment.  It’s illogical, on every count, to spend one’s life doing unpleasant things, working an unpleasant job & being an unpleasant person, in general, for the benefit of an additional ten, twenty, thirty-thousand dollars tacked onto your salary.  Why?  Because no matter how much money you make, you are still sacrificing your most valuable commodity:  Time.  Without time on your side, all you’ve got left is purchasing power.  Sure, you can buy more stuff.  You can buy a bigger house.  Hell, you can have tennis courts if you want.  Then you can even buy more stuff.  Great.  But is your greatest life goal to accumulate more and more and more stuff (and more stuff), and then die?  It isn’t and it shouldn’t be.  You’ve got bigger ideas for yourself, and this website was created to encourage you to take off your damn skirt, and go out and vehemently chase after what it is you want…and not stop until you get it.

This circles back to the increasingly popular concept of lifestyle design, a term which was originally coined by bestselling author Timothy Ferriss, of The 4-Hour Workweek.  The principle here is this:  Reality is negotiable.  I’ll repeat.  REALITY IS NEGOTIABLE.  What does that mean?  For starters, it means that more options exist than the standard life template of go to school, get job, convince someone to marry you, buy house, have kids, die.  Again, these are social “laws” that have been put into place; they aren’t hard, fast rules like gravity, but rather pliable, moldable rules that you can play around with.  But most people don’t realize that they have the power to create the reality they desire; instead, they allow others to shape their reality, based solely on majority rules.  But realistically speaking, “majority”  is simply a synonym for “popular,” and just because something’s popular doesn’t always translate into it being the most effective way of doing something.  What it translates into is a lot of misguided people.

That said, Welcome to The Middle Finger Project.  I hope I can help to inspire you to take risks, be deliberately crazy once and a while, give you a good kick in the pants to start living the life you’ve imagined for yourself, and learn how to flip the bird when appropriate.

To hell with the shoulds.  Life is short; start living how you want.

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The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’  - Jack Keroac