Wanting more on the horizon

I'm reading a book called "The Art of Non-Conformity" by Chris Guillebeau. It is my second time reading it. I'm starting to wonder if I should try to find a book on conforming because given my track record I think I'm pretty well versed in the non-traditional life path thing. Yet I'm still buying books seeking THE path for me (occasionally enough not to be depressed or obsessive but frequently enough to be harboring nagging feelings of "is this enough?").
The reason I'm reading it for a second time is that in the interim I've been living a non-conformist life working when I want or feel I need to, taking off weeks at a time, traveling for no other reason than traveling (OK- and eating), visiting all the people I care about across the country whose first questions to me when I ring them up usually are, "Where are you?" then "Where have you been?" But I'm not really sure if I'm doing the non-conformist thing right. So I picked up the book again.

Chris says a lot of the things most success coaches say:

Be passionate about something.
OK, got it. I am. About a lot of things: sailing, cooking, eating, traveling, growing things, the health care system, nutrition, writing, photography, the ocean, hiking through trees with the smell of wet dirt wafting through dead leaves.
OK, wait a second. What's a passion and what's a "Like?" I'll have to construct a diagram or something with lots of concentric circles and lines to help me figure this one out. No, really, it's fun and it works.

It's better to work for yourself than the man.
You got that right. I think. But hey, don't we all work for the man? Who is this man anyway? Even if you "work for yourself" you are always depending on someone else to exchange something of yours whether it is time or a product or skill for their money. So whether its for a big corporation or running a B&B or freelance writing, you're always working for someone else. Yes, some conditions are better than others. Some hours are better than others. As someone who has basically avoided the cubicle I know that I prefer my office to be the cockpit of a sailboat or a coffeeshop with my laptop in front of me rather than a traditional space even if my income is less secure. But hey, I hear Apple has a pretty cool gym on campus. With yoga! I could get used to that.

Take responsibility and be willing to work hard.
I alternately see myself as a lazy piece of crap or an annoying busy body who can't even sit down to enjoy the chips and dip (homemade!) at her own birthday party. I know I can work hard. It's that taking responsibility for my actions that I've had trouble with. Flitting from job to job and project to project has kept things interesting but sometimes I feel like a under-cared-for tomato plant. You see, to make a tomato plant thrive and concentrate on bearing fruit you need to snap off the little branch offshoots that start to form in the crook of the main stem and branches. There are far fewer branches on the mature plant but the fruit has been the focus and is bigger and tastier. If you let the plant just do its thing it gets all bushy and full but the harvest is meager. I feel like I create those branchy sugar stealing diversions and have lots of branches to take care of and therefore lose sight of making sure the fruits I'm growing (this season at least) are the best they can be.
So I get it Chris. Maybe what you are saying is I need to work hard and take responsibility while focusing on that passionate goal. Sounds easy right? Because a lot of us work really hard. And are passionate. But we forget that we can mix the two because hey, that might actually bring us more happiness and what would we do then? Stop buying how to succeed books for starters. And have a job we like. But then what we would complain about over happy hours drinks?

Don't listen to naysayers- they just want to bring you down, man.
I do agree with this one but I don't think that it's always easy to differentiate the Debbie Downers from "those that really care about your happiness" from those who are actually giving you really good advice. But I do know that it is hard to live an unconventional life without people constantly asking, "So what are you going to do when you settle down?" Valid question for many people. It is good to have goals. I just don't seem to know what settling down means anymore. I tried it and wasn't very good at it for very long. Or at least the version of "what settling down means to me" that I created for myself. I was no more happy or secure than when I've lived out of a duffel bag. I might argue I was less secure in a house with a car in the driveway and oven mitts on my hands. Perhaps the timing was off or perhaps I was trying too hard to conform.
I guess I would just phrase this tip differently. Instead of "don't listen to naysayers" I would say "learn how to really listen to yourself- not the egotistical, needing-to-please-others self, but your Gut." It is harder than it sounds when we have so much chatter around about what life should be but I am learning (slowly) it is possible to shut that out and just listen.

Chris says some stuff that is different from the typical get rich quick gurus though (like the stuff above these are not quotes just my interpretation of what I read and what resonated with me):
Make a comfortable amount of money but don't have money be the goal.
Live with less attachments but don't forgo simple luxuries if you can afford them (like lattes).
Find a way to help other people.
Avoid sacrificing opportunities for adventure to "save up" in the traditional way to fund a retirement day 40 or 20 or even 2 years (get rich quick!!) from now. You don't know what the future holds so while you should still take responsibility for savings, live now.
He actually doesn't push for retirement at all, just having a secure independent income. Which I totally agree with. The happiest, healthiest old people I know never fully retired. Or if they did retire from their "career" they jumped into something else. Sitting on the couch eating crackers all day does not a happy person make.

So I'm done with the book. It was a quick read, I took notes. I'll try not to lose them in my wanderings. Is it going to radically change my life? Probably not, but there were some good reminders of why I do what I do even if I don't have the independent steady income thing down yet.

Why did I write about it? Maybe just to let all the people who think that they have "conformist" lives know that even us non-9 to 5ers want more too.
Or that we can all learn from each other even if we think we know what the message is before we start listening to what the other person has to say. Because I'm sure I could learn something about living fully even from one of my favorites like Rush Limbaugh or Michele Bachmann. Maybe. (cringe)

Conformist or non, we're all just looking to be content. And if the Apple gym holds the key to contentedness please Mr. Jobs consider my non-conformist resume.

note: I'd actually love to hear about other people's experiences with this book. Does it seem radical or basic? Did it inspire you or make a non-conformist life seem more impossible? I obviously skipped over a lot of what he said in the book and I do think it is worth a read for anyone.Unless of course you're totally, 100%, undeniably content. Then I want to read your book.