Working With Fire

In the past I've never really aspired to have much money - I certainly have had everything I needed and more than enough of what I wanted. But over the last few months I've found a hole, called filmmaking, that my carefully hoarded funds keep wanting to disappear into. So far no substantial amounts have been sucked in, but it's only a matter of time. And I'm beginning to see why people do so much for the stuff - it really does make the world go 'round. This costs x that costs y and the other thing costs a ludicrous z. I take out my pocket calculator every once in a while, and add up the value of all the items I 'require'. The sum never fails to shock me. The other funny thing I'm learning about money is that (the old adage is true) what you have isn't ever quite enough. Because, you see, if you have n amount, you won't want to buy something of that value - you'll want the item that costs n + x. This is why sages down through history have viewed money as dangerous - not bad, but dangerous - because it is, like adrenaline, caffeine and alcohol, addictive. If one is very careful however, it can be tamed. I'm preaching to myself also. The first and most important thing is only spending what you have. There are exceptions to this rule, but very few, and if it can be followed strictly it will yield marvellous results. The second thing to remember is not to upgrade your shopping list every time your income goes up. Ask yourself why you were content to buy model X500 last week - you probably did have your head screwed on at the time, and equally probably there's no rock solid reason to dump it and purchase model X600. Thirdly, just remember that you're working with fire - very useful, and increasingly powerful the more you have, but not to be trifled with. Give it half a chance, and it will eat you.