Woke Up This Morning, Got Myself A Beer: Capitalized Versus Lower Case Freedom
Yes, I did, and it’s a non-alcoholic beer. It’s sitting right here.
If you don’t know the song “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors, you don’t know what you’re missing.
“Well, I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer. Woke up this morning, got myself a beer. The future’s uncertain and the end is always near. Let it roll, baby, roll.”
Good stuff. And related to today’s article.
Why do people seek to achieve FIRE?
Here’s a quick recap of the Top five reasons, ranked, according to a Google Gemini search:
Time Freedom — autonomy and control over time
Escaping Corporate Burnout — mental health prioritization
Pursuit of Passion Projects — eliminating financial risk
Prioritize Deep Relationships — family, friends, loved ones
Boundless Travel — slow travel, rotations, zero vacation day limits
I had to press Gemini a bit, because at first it gave me two answers for each of the top five reasons.
Thus, we lost what was Originally ranked in fifth place, which it called “Resisting Hyper-Consumerism.”
This is the idea of getting out of the rat race of hyper-consumerism by embracing more values-aligned, intentional living and spending.
It dropped to Sixth Place.
That is interesting, because I got to FIRE by pursuing #6 as one of my core strategies.
It is Your Money or Your Life’s call to answer “what is enough,” and Dave Ramsey’s “beans and rice, rice and beans” while you build your financial independence.
Thus, freedom. What does that mean?
All these reasons for Achieving Fire are related to it.
I have been talking about it here as time, psychological, and location freedom.
Today, I began to realize there is another distinction that is important.
There is Capital F Freedom. This is the ability to do and say yes to your big dreams and goals. Your “Hell, Yeahs.”
There is Lower Case Freedom. This is all the other things you can do and say yes to once you’ve reached FIRE.
Capital F Freedom is more akin to what I have described as Radical Ownership of Your Time Freedom and Total Freedom to more fully live your truth.
Lower Case Freedom is more akin to reducing unnecessary friction in your life and having a whole plethora of possibilities open up that were not there before when still working for a paycheck.
A difficulty and challenge I have had, and am still facing, is being able to distinguish between the two.
And then, prioritizing Capital F over Lower Case opportunities and experiences.
Yes, it’s kind of like the Big Rocks and Pebbles put into a Jar exercise made famous by The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but this time specifically applied to your dream lifestyle design and post-FIRE experiences.
It is really easy to fall into Lower Case Freedom pursuits and have a great time doing so. Nothing wrong with that.
You want to have a real beer each morning, watch Netflix or YouTube all day and night, etc.?
go for it. You have earned that ability when you reach FIRE.
But be careful. You can end up missing the Capital F opportunities by doing so.
And these almost unlimited Lower Case Freedom pursuits, as well as Capital F pursuits, can be overwhelming. There are so many opportunities.
How do you prioritize? How do you avoid FOMO?
For example, I was thinking this morning about whether to go to an open mic this evening. This would be a Lower Case F activity.
It is a better Lower Case F activity than some others I might do, but it’s not a Capital F activity.
Why do I say this?
Let’s use my five core values I want to prioritize in the coming year (see It’s In The Cards article from yesterday).
Let’s compare two things I could spend my time doing this afternoon and Tonight.
First, going to play at an open mic at a venue that I have played many times.
It’s a good choice.
It is a mini-adventure. Lower Case adventure.
It is a play date kind of experience. Lower Case play.
It is an experience of beauty because I live in a beautiful place and there is music involved, but the venue is basically the type of roadhouse in The Doors song.
It’s beautiful in a dingy, gritty, beer-bar kind of way.
Playing my songs for other people is an expression of beauty, and that is much closer to Capital F than just the open mic itself. So, almost a reason, but still Lower Case beauty.
It is an example of freedom. It is one of many, many opportunities I could pursue for today. And it is a type of freedom activity that moves me closer to a Capital F lifestyle,
but … there is another one on Saturday I could attend. Is it necessary or the best option?
This will make more sense in the comparison example.
It is an opportunity to connect with people I like and enjoy.
This is the strongest reason to do it.
However, it is a bit like going to a church Service.
You know the feeling. You rub elbows with people you know as acquaintances. You share some similar values and interests, to a greater or lesser degree.
Good people. Good experience.
But for me, it’s the equivalent of traveling 2.5–3 hours round trip to attend a service.
Why not go to a church up the road from me? (AKA, an open mic within 1–5 miles.)
Because there are ZERO open mics happening in my neighborhood … but that is a topic for a different day.
Second, I am leaving the PNW by the end of this month, if not sooner.
Yesterday, I thought to myself, jeez, dude, you didn’t go to any of the places you thought you wanted to go visit and play open mics at this summer, and time has almost run out.
I was writing about the song “Oregon Coast” in yesterday’s article, and I thought to myself, yeah, dude, just jump in your car and head for the coast. See what happens.
It could be fun. It would be an adventure.
And if you don’t do something like this before you leave, you will likely not do it before next summer, 2027.
Yikes.
Driving to and hanging out on the Oregon Coast for a few days would be:
Capital Adventure.
Capital Play.
Capital Beauty.
Capital Freedom.
Connection is the missing ingredient.
But what if I could find an open mic to play while I am there?
What if I can do some other kind of fun activity that allows me to meet some people?
It is possible, right?
Thus, what is the better use of my time this evening?
I am leaning towards tackling critical to-dos and planning the rest of September.
What are the critical items to complete before I do my next road trip?
I have a long list of items to complete before I hit the Highway to Yeah for Fall Oktoberfest rotation down to the Southeast.
What are the Capital F activities I want to put on the calendar, and freaking do, before I leave the PNW?
Oh my, I have some ideas, but not a clear, prioritized list.
You may not have this problem, but I always think there is more time in a day, a week, or a month than there really is.
It seems anything I do takes double the time I thought it would.
And the amount of time I actually have is usually half of what I thought it would be.
Therefore, maybe someday I will learn to plan and do 25% of the things that are Capital F.
We will see.
But for now, Cheers!
Pssssh! (Non-alcoholic beer opened)
Here’s to you and your pursuit of what really matters!