I’ve been thinking a lot about it. That idea that maybe the fact that our financial system is falling apart isn’t the worst thing that could possibly happen. It could be that this is the moment that changes the world.
There’s that old concept of the Wheel of Fortune. In the Middle Ages, people thought that being at the top of the wheel was great, but the luckiest time was when you were at the bottom. Because at that moment, it was all chaos. Everything that kept you tied down, stuck in one place, in one thought was destroyed. And in that moment, everything new is born. The moment of infinite opportunity. The Phoenix can’t rise until it’s burned to ash.
And right now, I think we’re looking dead at the bottom of the great Wheel. We’re not quite there yet. We haven’t bottomed out. But it’s soon. Everybody can feel it in their bones. Chaos is coming.
Maybe not such a bad thing. We can look around and wonder what we’re doing working longer hours to buy more stuff. Maybe one or two of those Wall St. types who are now jobless decide it’s a good time to move to Joplin, Missouri and start growing organic carrots. Maybe people will realize that the most valuable resource we have on this blessed Earth is time. And if you want to spend all your time making money, and that’s what makes you happy – do it. But if what makes you happy is pushing your kid on a swing, or weeding the garden, or going to a play, or volunteering to teach people to read, or just watching the clouds roll by – then you need to do it. Time is finite. And every second your spend running the rat race, is a second you don’t have to do what you love.
Wouldn’t it be something if the moment the Wheel hits the bottom, the entire world stops and thinks, “What the hell have I been doing?” We can do things differently. We can rebuild this world. We can slough off the meaningless nonsense that has cluttered our lives. Instead, we can value generosity, honesty, courage, contemplation, hard work, kindness and love. Yes, the stock market is tumbling. But there is one investment that will always stay rock solid. Time. Spend it wisely.
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2 comments:
As a watcher of every post-apocalyptic film and TV show I can possible see - I'm kinda with you - it seems time for change in a drastic way. Wipe the slate clean & start fresh.
Though I think we are all guilty of over-romanticizing the Great Depression and the being poor - I'm not sure most of us are ready for the reality of that.
Or what England went through in the 40s and 50s after WWII. Soup lines, Hoovervilles and rationing are tough stuff. But if this is our lot, we need to make the most of it.
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