Who doesn’t loves getting something for free, even if you have to pay for it!
Every few weeks I get one of those free Starbucks cards in the mail.
And for all the $4.50 chai lattes I buy on my way to a freebie, I do everything possible to make Starbucks pay.
Last week, I took my free drink card to a Starbucks in the meatpacking district of NYC and ordered a venti chai soy latte with 6 espresso shots (see photo).
Even the Starbucks employee was surprised by the price that rang up on her register: $9.95…
…but i got it for free!
As it goes with 6 espresso shots, I spent the rest of the day talking to anyone who would listen, words seeping from seemingly every orafice.
In fact, I was 4300 words over my limit that day.
Who sets the limit on words, you ask?
I’ve been going to a shamanistic energy healer who has me on a 2000 words-a-day cap.
He’s very expensive but for every 4th session, I get a 5th free.
Why the fascination with “free?”
We go CRAZY for anything free (see SNL parody on Oprah giving away her favorite things).
There’s a psychology to free, it makes us feel good, we have nothing to lose, and that is the way our culture is evolving.
Information is free. Music is almost free. Even yoga is practically free (donation studios).
I wrote a book 3 years ago. Whether or not you liked it, I put my heart and freakin soul into it.
And a few months after it launched, I found it on the internet… for free!
*****
There are some people who seem to defy gravity, if not with their athletic prowess than with a seeming ability to rise above financial burden or marital pressure.
How?
Buddhist monk Sakyong Mipham said, “Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don’t even notice it.”
It’s one thing to be an altruistic hero, and another thing entirely to be one of those humans who make little karmic investments every single day…
…and find a Garden of (freakin) Eden sprouting in the most beautifully fulfilling ways.
Therein lie some questions.
Might direct and daily recognition of beauty be a subtle karmic shift, ie a Conversation of particular interest to God?
Next time you pass a street musician, would you be willing to drop a dollar in the bucket?
Next time you hear a song you love, would you be willing to go out of your way to pay .99 for it?
Next time you see a painting that captures your imagination, might it be worth the investment?
*****
Someone recently told me that the prayers of children are the most powerful and likely to be Heard.
I would say the prayers of artists are a close second.
That being said, I’ll hoard the free samples at Whole Foods, and keep loading up on as many free 6 shot lattes as I can, and probably rip too many free .mp3’s from the hearts of artists…
…and it will come back to haunt me.
Free has a cost, that drains, if not our wallets, than certainly the pulse and blood of beauty…drop by drop by drop.
Sooo true!! And thanks for the link to the Oprah parody – still LMAO.
Great to hear from you — love that parody. Thanks for checking out my site!!
Fortunately, those little “free drink” cards we get from Starbucks (yes, I get them too–should have bought stock in Starbucks a long time ago) are because we’ve already paid for them with the overpriced drinks we normally buy. But you are quite correct, Free does have a cost, and those who say it doesn’t have given up their freedom–if not their souls…..