El poblado is the Beverly Hills of Medellin, which of course I absolutely love. The adorable French cafes, the hilltops full of beautiful homes, the overpriced restaurants, the hotel this looks like Chateau Marmont in LA, the hikes, the amazing pastries, the stuffy nightlife, nice parks etc. For a person who does love luxury and loves simplicity, I do enjoy this for my personal life. I love human beings, I love my missions, I love my work, but I also like excellent food, great cafes, fashion forward clothing, and upscale lounges/hotels. This is just me and I acknowledge this rather than trying to fight the reality. It's easy for me to spend the night in m hotel and then cross over to the poverty and feed the needy, speak to vendors, spend time in and out of churches, and listen to those looking for a pair of ears to hear their voice.
This is just something I am used to as I have lived in New York and Los Angeles with a certain lifestyle, but then I would work with my clients-volunteer-keep working with people. That contradiction has always been present for me and I questioned, "Should I be doing something more profitable." My purpose just kept revealing itself that my spirit from people had to continue.
While I enjoyed wearing different outfits out, having the expensive gym, and fancy lounges/hotels/ clubs- this did not hinder me from my work. With the materialism, my purpose did not fall to the wayside rather it kept building and building by learning by experience with people and practicing self improvement and behavioral modification. Of course, this did not always work, but again the learning experiences of the 20s are the most important to take to the 30s.
We learn by every experience everyday(PRIS).
With the nice things, there was always an awareness into this world of poverty. It did impact the decisions I made i.e. trying to stay on phone that was not a smart phone through 5 generations of IPhone. When I was in New York at 26, things started to change as I truly questioned the city, my lifestyle, and the world. How could I just live this lifestyle continuously and help people? It didn't make sense to me and probably to others.
After I went to Istanbul and I came back, I had a whole new perspective. It was not just this trip, but a large contribution was my education and my social work placement. I grew tired of a broken system. I grew tired of spinning my wheels in different directions to please someone else who didn't appreciate me. I grew tired of inefficiency and incompetency. I knew there was something better out there for me- a direct way to create my own systems, my own programs, and my own expectations. There was a whole world out there with people less fortunate and there was us. The clients I definitely enjoyed, but this spoiled culture began to irritate me.
The people who have everything trying to "help" those who have nothing with money. These people will live and breathe in their materialism and think that throwing money at a charity will solve a problem. The Mercedes and apartment on Park Avenue are great, but can they detach from this to truly help someone? To dedicate their life to making someone else's life better other than their own?
Some of these people were my own friends who were so stuck in this "New York state of mind." The fashion, the new restaurant, the Hunter boots, the new purse, the ballet, New York symphony, concerts in the park, the amazing shopping, posh grocery stores, the social rooftop events-fantastic right?
All of it just disinterested me and I knew I had to make my move out. I told all my lovely Social work friends that I was going to leave once we graduated. I was truly on a mission to detach from materialism and that's what I did. I graduated and I took a radical move to just get rid of everything(oh boy do I question this act of strength at times). I gave everything away to Goodwill including my leather jackets, my boots, shoes, various sweaters, jeans, and tops. I sold my Tiffany's bracelet and my watch. It was my movement to lead my life into simplicity and just let go of these "things." This produced a feeling of relief and freedom. It was so empowering to let go of these things I loved in order to start fresh.
Starting fresh meant buying a backpack with some travel clothes and necessities and out the door. This started my first world trip and it started the detachment of materialism. I challenge and test myself and I have learned that from my strike and my travel experiences.
Do I like staying in clean, safe places? Yes
Am I food snob and enjoy the best food? Yes.
Do I still love luxury hotels and name brand clothes? Yes.
Am I able to decipher between what I really "need" and "want." Yessss!!!!!
What would it be like for the rich to crossover to the poor side for a day without this ability to detach?
Would they complain, would they not agree to do it, would they sneak their IPhone over?
The crossover requires an awareness with the ability to detach. If one can temporarily detach then this is a wonderful. If it's for one day a week or on vacations, this is good progress. The problem is that many are addicted and they can't detach or figure out if they are acting with need or want. The need is something necessary and the want is what triggers the attachment to materialism. The greed builds and they are stuck in the cycle. The wants are strong desires to possess something. Once one has it, they will go on to the next thing they want, next, next, and next. In New York, it's just a continuous cycle of constant shopping and having to be in trend. It literally gets exhausting with all the trends and keeping up.
When you detach or move away into a simpler environment, things become a lot better and more hopeful.
Could they survive????
This is just something I am used to as I have lived in New York and Los Angeles with a certain lifestyle, but then I would work with my clients-volunteer-keep working with people. That contradiction has always been present for me and I questioned, "Should I be doing something more profitable." My purpose just kept revealing itself that my spirit from people had to continue.
While I enjoyed wearing different outfits out, having the expensive gym, and fancy lounges/hotels/ clubs- this did not hinder me from my work. With the materialism, my purpose did not fall to the wayside rather it kept building and building by learning by experience with people and practicing self improvement and behavioral modification. Of course, this did not always work, but again the learning experiences of the 20s are the most important to take to the 30s.
We learn by every experience everyday(PRIS).
With the nice things, there was always an awareness into this world of poverty. It did impact the decisions I made i.e. trying to stay on phone that was not a smart phone through 5 generations of IPhone. When I was in New York at 26, things started to change as I truly questioned the city, my lifestyle, and the world. How could I just live this lifestyle continuously and help people? It didn't make sense to me and probably to others.
After I went to Istanbul and I came back, I had a whole new perspective. It was not just this trip, but a large contribution was my education and my social work placement. I grew tired of a broken system. I grew tired of spinning my wheels in different directions to please someone else who didn't appreciate me. I grew tired of inefficiency and incompetency. I knew there was something better out there for me- a direct way to create my own systems, my own programs, and my own expectations. There was a whole world out there with people less fortunate and there was us. The clients I definitely enjoyed, but this spoiled culture began to irritate me.
The people who have everything trying to "help" those who have nothing with money. These people will live and breathe in their materialism and think that throwing money at a charity will solve a problem. The Mercedes and apartment on Park Avenue are great, but can they detach from this to truly help someone? To dedicate their life to making someone else's life better other than their own?
Some of these people were my own friends who were so stuck in this "New York state of mind." The fashion, the new restaurant, the Hunter boots, the new purse, the ballet, New York symphony, concerts in the park, the amazing shopping, posh grocery stores, the social rooftop events-fantastic right?
All of it just disinterested me and I knew I had to make my move out. I told all my lovely Social work friends that I was going to leave once we graduated. I was truly on a mission to detach from materialism and that's what I did. I graduated and I took a radical move to just get rid of everything(oh boy do I question this act of strength at times). I gave everything away to Goodwill including my leather jackets, my boots, shoes, various sweaters, jeans, and tops. I sold my Tiffany's bracelet and my watch. It was my movement to lead my life into simplicity and just let go of these "things." This produced a feeling of relief and freedom. It was so empowering to let go of these things I loved in order to start fresh.
Starting fresh meant buying a backpack with some travel clothes and necessities and out the door. This started my first world trip and it started the detachment of materialism. I challenge and test myself and I have learned that from my strike and my travel experiences.
Do I like staying in clean, safe places? Yes
Am I food snob and enjoy the best food? Yes.
Do I still love luxury hotels and name brand clothes? Yes.
Am I able to decipher between what I really "need" and "want." Yessss!!!!!
What would it be like for the rich to crossover to the poor side for a day without this ability to detach?
Would they complain, would they not agree to do it, would they sneak their IPhone over?
The crossover requires an awareness with the ability to detach. If one can temporarily detach then this is a wonderful. If it's for one day a week or on vacations, this is good progress. The problem is that many are addicted and they can't detach or figure out if they are acting with need or want. The need is something necessary and the want is what triggers the attachment to materialism. The greed builds and they are stuck in the cycle. The wants are strong desires to possess something. Once one has it, they will go on to the next thing they want, next, next, and next. In New York, it's just a continuous cycle of constant shopping and having to be in trend. It literally gets exhausting with all the trends and keeping up.
When you detach or move away into a simpler environment, things become a lot better and more hopeful.
Could they survive????
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