Unplugged
INSPIRATION by Nancy Whitney-Reiter
disconnecting from the rat race
W
hen I left my job at a Fortune 500 company to embark upon a year-long international travel sabbatical, I thought my dilemma was unique. Why was I not satisfied with a life that, by all standards, was successful? True, as a 9/11 survivor I had more reason than most to reconsider my life and how I wanted to spend the rest of it. As it turns out, however, I was not alone. While most of my coworkers and friends were exclaiming, “I wish I could do what you’re doing,” plenty of others of all ages were packing their bags. I met several of them in my travels, which took me from Central America to Africa, to various cities in the US, and finally to northern Arizona, where I now reside. There is no doubt that many in our modern society are in the midst of an
existential crisis. The tremendous success of books such as Po Bronson’s What Should I Do With My Life? memoirs such as Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love and the resurgence of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist exemplify the inner struggle faced by many working professionals today. The ideals of previous generations have gradually eroded, leaving nothing to fill the vacuum they created. Corporate loyalty is virtually nonexistent; gold watches have been supplanted by pink slips, as downsizing and outsourcing have become a daily fact of life. Going to college has become an expectation in its own right. Students are pressured, while just beginning high school, to think about their college careers, rather than nurtured or encouraged to think about who they are and who they want to become.
Wireless: Popular, Convenient &
Hazardous to Your Health
LEARN HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF A rare opportunity to hear Dr. George Carlo, PhD, a world authority on cell phones, cell towers and electromagnetic fields. Dr. Carlo’s talk will encompass the latest science, what industry and government aren’t telling us, and what we can do to protect and heal ourselves.
in person
George Carlo, PhD
Friday, May 2nd 7 - 9 pm St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church 1022 Nelson Street, Vancouver
�
�
$20 advance
$25 at the door
$5 Discount for HANS members
�
��
��
TICKETS: www.hans.org 604-435-0512 co-sponsored by Health Action Network Society and Common Ground Magazine 6 .
.
MARCH 2008
��
���
�
In addition, with the advent of globeliefs and our jobs. It’s too hard to change careers; it’s balization and the Internet frontier, the simpler just to change companies. It’s choices for what to do with one’s life are too hard to make a struggling relationlimitless. The result of this is an entire generation that has rushed into life withship work; it’s easier to find a new mate. out a clear purpose (Generation X), a It’s too hard to self examine and develop generation that finds itself with the rug one’s own spiritual beliefs, it’s simpler pulled out from under it (Baby Boomto follow the latest fads. We are breeding ers) and a new generation that is starta generation of contradictions: we have ing to burn out at a faster rate than ever virtually limitless choices, but no one to before (Generation Y). tell us which ones to follow. Whichever fork of the path to adultThe answer, of course, is that it is not hood you’ve travelled, it’s possible that up to anyone else to tell us what to be. you are now facing a problem. Nowhere The answer involves finding this out for in this period of becoming an adult have ourselves, which is nearly impossible you had the time to devote to exploring to do with the frenetic pace we have set yourself: what makes you happy, what for ourselves. One of the greatest ironies you’re truly good at, what brings you the of our work ethic and culture is that we greatest satisfaction. Instead, our genwork so hard to be able to afford a nice erations have been force-fed a constant place to live, nice furniture, neat gadstream of consumer driven goals that are gets, expensive home entertainment and based on nothing more concrete than a exercise equipment and then watch it marketer’s latest scheme. collect dust as we spend more and more We’ve been programmed since birth time at work, in an effort to afford more to believe that our needs are greater than things that we won’t have the time to use they actually are – that latest toy, car or or enjoy! electronic gadget is a must-have – only Unplugging from the matrix to be told, “That’s so five minutes ago” In the film The Matrix, there is a soon after we acquire it. The moment point when the protagonist, Neo, is told something better comes along, we are that he can see things as they really are no longer satisfied by what we have. We or he can go back without discovering reality. Once he sees the truth, however, give absolutely no thought to this pattern and become seduced each time by he won’t be able to go back to his old the next best thing. This trend is hardly life. Ever. The same will be true for you. new to Generations X or Y. Observers of Once you unplug from our distraction this facet of human nature can be traced packed, consumption driven matrix, you all the way back to Aristotle, who wrote, won’t go back. The difference here is “The avarice of mankind is insatiable.” that you won’t want to. Once you take What is alarming is that the pace of the time to truly find yourself and what this cycle, from coveting to rejecting, makes you happy, you’ll never want to is speeding up. In addition, this mentalgo back to the artificial world that most ity is spreading to areas other than conof the rest of the population is operatsumer goods; it has become evident in ing in. You won’t need to move from ����������������������������������������������������������������� our personal relationships, our spiritual relationship to relationship, from job to
