I'm very grateful to have the luxury of not having to play the game (very much). It puts me at odds with the majority of the world. Maybe if I was a success on the scale of our modern day oligarchs my circles would be filled with similar people, but being a salary employee who doesn't work primarily for the pay cheque and could quit for higher morals or values (without risking their family's welfare) is a weird situation. I feel like I'm often on the edge of the bubble and must be missing something.
We're all just animals on this floating rock in space, and meaning is what we ascribe to the series of events that comprise our lives. I personally resonate with the notion of shokunin which essentially is about honing a craft, and ultimately yourself - I definitely find joy and satisfaction in continually learning and improving at whatever I do...
When you combine that with wabi-sabi, and just a general appreciation for the present, I find I am able to cope with whatever life throws at me, no matter how bleak it sometimes gets.
Not having to play the game isn’t as expensive as you suggest.
Lots of tech employees, if they don’t let lifestyle inflation take over, hit a point where they could retire early but may not want to. At that point t walking away from a job is much easier.
You may be missing the feeling of being a human being with atonomy over the course of your life. Missing in the sence of absence, definately not in a sense of sadness or regret - be happy to not have to worry about the most existential things in life and being dependent on the whims of a boss / company / ecomomy for them. tl;dr I'm happy for you to not be in the rat race, it's completely not glorious (to be in it).
