Questions??

Art Work by Eunice O'Hanna

Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers.

...Voltaire

The older I get the more questions I have.  I always thought that it would happen the other way around.  The fact is that I am more curious about everything that is around me.  I like knowing why it works rather than that it just works

After 9/11,  I recognized that something was strangely missing from my suburban lifestyle.  I discovered it while traveling in Mexico.  There I noticed that most people have two very distinct lives:  work and leisure.  People in Mexico frequently interact with each other especially after work.  They are connected.  We on the other hand, have few connections let alone with ourselves.    We are more connected to or televisions and radio than we are to our spouses, family, and friends.

Our lifestyles are one of self-imposed isolation.  We commute to work and then again back home.  Usually, we experience the commute alone.  We arrive home tired and we converse very little with our family and even less with our neighbors.  Lives are void of non work communication.

We no longer have connections with the baker, the butcher, or even the haberdasher.   No one knows or mentions your name but they take your money shamelessly.   Even less know our names at the national chains we choose to shop.  We've become a nation of strangers living in a state of self-imposed isolation.   In essense, we are exiled from our own human nature.  It's easy to see why so many choose to spend hours at Starbucks.

It doesn't have to be that way.  Since 9/11, I've taken steps to change my life.  Friends are more important to me.  I recognize that I need them in my life.  It was a step in the right direction.  Ask yourself yourself if you need to make some changes.