Sunday, December 7, 2008

JERRY GILLIES IS BROKER THAN YOU RIGHT NOW

Some of the people I talk to nowadays about prosperity consciousness and/or the healthy dark chocolate business I am starting to put my focus and energy into, put me on a pedestal. “Look,” they say, “we’re not bestselling authors, we’re not in your enviable financial position.” Let me set the record straight, and since I now have a record, a prison record, I can easily do that. MONEYLOVE was a bestseller, it’s true, and probably earned me at least a quarter of a million dollars, plus all the seminars and tapes. But it was first published in 1978, and has been out-of-print since 2002, though alive and well online where a thriving business is done in used copies. Unfortunately, I don’t get a penny from these, the royalty on already published copies was paid out long ago.

And right now, as I write this, and am awaiting my introductory order as a new Executive in this exciting healthy dark chocolate business, my total assets are $40, as I also await my next Social Security check. When I paroled on August 24th from Folsom State Prison (yes, the one Johnny Cash performed at and sang about, though he never was an inmate there), I was given the standard $200 cash as “gate money.” I had to buy my train ticket to San Francisco, and coincidentally enough, my first purchase at a Walgreens drugstore was several brands of a product I had missed terribly for over a decade of incarceration—dark chocolate. I also had a check for $800, saved from earnings from my cartoon gagwriting. This was a fun and mind-stimulating activity that isn’t very profitable in real world terms, but the $80 to $100 a month that came in allowed me to have a relatively abundant prison lifestyle, with cans of tuna, sodas, summer sausages, etc. from the prison canteen. I had not ever been on The Internet, this is not allowed inmates, who are pushed out into an overwhelming cyber world with no preparation whatsoever. I had no place to live, since the friend who was going to take me in suddenly died. And the terms of my parole were that I had to live in San Mateo County, a place where I knew no one, for the next thirteen months. (can you hear the plaintive sound of violins in the background?) It was several days before I knew for certain that I would be able to collect $977 in monthly Social Security benefits, and my $1000 was going fast as I had to pay $80 a night for a motel room while I looked on Craig’s List for a room to rent. I was lucky that my friend, Susannah Lippman in Santa Fe, gave me the Apple PowerBook I’m writing this on when got a new one.

I finally found a room in San Bruno, in a house owned by a charming, kind man who emigrated from Fiji six years ago, though his ethnic roots were Indian, as are those of 40% of the Fiji Islanders. A beautiful Pacific paradise, but not much to offer in the way of jobs. The only furnishing in the room was a carpet, so I had to walk over to Target and buy a $70 air mattress, plus linen, to sleep on. I only had one pair of pants when I paroled, and had to get some clothes, a cell phone, a table or desk for my laptop, a printer, and high speed Internet connection. I was broke pretty fast as you could imagine, especially when my room rent was $650 a month. And thankfully, a beautiful and kindly case worker at the San Mateo County Human Services Agency approved my request for food stamps, so I get a debit card with $83 worth of food allowance per month. All this is a pretty humbling experience, but also exciting and challenging. I don’t focus on the things I can’t have yet, but on how much fun it is going to be to tell people, once I am solvent and prosperous again, how broke I was when I started my re-entry into society. So don’t talk to me about your shrinking 401K, or the fact your house is worth $100,000 less this year, or that you can’t afford a new SUV, or steak and lobster dinners, or had to cancel that cruise this past summer and go to the beach instead.

I am going to be wealthy as soon as possible, and the only way I can do this in this new business is to help make other people wealthy. I am sure some people I turn on to this opportunity will work harder and maybe even smarter than I will, and make a lot more money than I will. But my needs aren’t much, and after where I started out, even a modest amount of prosperity is going to seem like millions. I might even be able to get my first car in over twelve years, and a nice apartment, and a real bed. And I plan to have fun every step of the way! And share every step through these blogs. Maybe my next bestseller will be entitled: “From Prisoner and Pauper to Multimillionaire--Eating and Sharing Chocolate.”

Jerry Gillies
You can be part of that amazing success story--yours and mine--contact me: jerrygillies@gmail.com

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Jerry Gillies, I like your mindset....You will definitely get back where you desire to be. Being broke is only temporary, but having a wealthy mindset will set you free for a lifetime. We are in your corner, everyone deserves a second chance without any judgement. By the way MoneyLove is awesome, the concepts are being used by many. Be Blessed and Wealthy without any apologies.

Hasheem Francis
Loyal Leadership Inc.
www.loyalleadership.com