Just like the last one, I was only ten pages in before I started saying Whoa.

I define “fundamental change” as a society where every individual comes to accept every social problem as a problem of his own making, and sees the wisdom of changing himself (into a happier and compassionate human being) as his way of changing the world.

Have you ever picked up a book and seen your thoughts reflected almost perfectly in its pages? This happened to me with most of Chris Guillebeau’s ebook, nearly all of Seth Godin’s Tribes, and probably only a few others that I can think of. Snow Crash wasn’t a reflection—it was a new adventure for me that fit perfectly into what I wanted, right then. (It was crazy inspiring, too.) But Republic of Tea is reading my brain like a… like a book.

So those of you who’ve read it and remember its particular turns of phrase will find it very funny when I say: The Republic of Tea is reading me.

There are parts that have created bizarre chemical changes in my brain, like this:

In The Republic of Tea we embody Chuang Tzu’s “time before history,” when people were kind to one another but did not call it “being kind to one another,” when people naturally looked out for each other and for the world around them but didn’t see it as “being caring and responsible.” Incidentally, the reason Chuang Tzu called this the “time before history” is because it was an era that came and went without leaving a trace of itself. Since nothing went “wrong,” nobody had any reason to write anything down. It was lived, not recorded.

And there are parts that are constantly making me laugh, even as I consider how true they can sometimes be:

...reflects that business is life and life is business and our understanding that anybody who separates the two is just looking for a way to rationalize his uncivil behavior in business.

And geeze, I’m barely halfway through. It’s a decent first edition, so I had to strong arm myself into enacting my customary dog-ear’d note-taking learning process. (Any book, to me, is worth more as a lesson than a museum piece. Well, unless it’s a museum piece.)

It gets more heavily into business territory as it goes. It’s teaching me really interesting things about physical product development, and it’s showing me a lot of process that I’ve never seen anywhere else. But it’s so much more than that; it’s based on ideas that give me chills.

People thrive on happiness. There is nothing elusive about happiness. It’s here always; the only problem is that sometimes we’re not here for it.

Read that one again, guys.

I don’t know whether you’re interested in tea or business, but great big parts of this book are just about life, and it’s already so worth reading.

The Republic of Tea and Snow Crash (among many others) were picked up on !MBA recommendation. So far it’s steering way true. (Thanks, Seth!)

Man, do I love good books.

At least to the half point, this one’s a doozy. I’ll keep you updated, but I doubt I’ll change my mind. ;}

[Edit: That’s what I get for posting before sleep! Snow Crash was actually on this list. Made to Stick is the other from the !MBA. I’ll tell you about that one shortly!]

Something pretty awesome happened this last week, and I have been spurred by that awesome thing to move some Virtual Magpie posts over here, to make worldmegan.net my primary writing outlet. I came across a post I made over there—Seeing Again—and I realized that I didn’t want to just duplicate it here. I needed to talk about it.

At a 9-to-5 I will never be the person I am when I do what I love, whatever that is. At this job, at Virtual Magpie, I will never be the person I am when I do what I love, if I’m not doing what I love for the sake of loving it. If Virtual Magpie becomes my trap, my only way to pay the bills, it’s no better than working at the radio station or the magazine. It’s the same grind and I’m no longer the best me.

I was on the right track then. I wouldn’t be in this state of mind, right now, if it weren’t for that first corner I turned more than a year ago. But the more that I was looking for then is something I feel I have a tentative grasp on now: We’re not talking about Virtual Magpie. We’re not talking about the work I do. We’re talking about MY LIFE.

And the best me will still pay the bills, all the while knowing that the bills aren’t the point. The bills stop mattering, because living my life is what matters, not complaining about it. Not finding new ways to be miserable!

So I’m working on it now—my life, I mean. And my projects will still be a huge part of that. But everything’s about to change, just a little, and it’s going to feel ssoooooo good.

No matter what they tell you, it’s not about paying the bills. It’s not about having a job. You will hear it from everyone but it’s not true. You are the best you when you’re doing what you love, because you love it. You are the best you when you’re learning and growing and making and building. You’re the best you when you love life and move forward. That’s the point.

Watching The Pursuit of Happyness with Marty, I thought, This is the kind of movie where he will win, in the end. He has to. And other movies, I know I have thought, The end is going to be bad. And I will just have to sit here and take it.

But this one, I stay with it. No matter how many rotten, demoralizing things happen to him, he’s in that kind of movie. It will get worse and worse but in the end, it will all come together. It will be worth it. He will be lifted up, and so will we.

It’s not what’s going on now. It’s not what you’re going through now. It’s what kind of movie you’re in. I know what kind of movie I’m in. What kind of movie do you want to be in?

I’m pretty sure… we get to pick.