Back to life

So, with every day the routine revolves...sleep, work, eat, eventually die. I've spent so many years grinding that it makes me glad to see the young guys do it. At least it used to. I sat at a conference a few months back with a PhD overlord from the world of quant-finance academia. Some of you have probably read his books.

The center piece of this particular speech was how "China just needs to increase it's consumption and everything will go back to normal". Before you laugh...remember...many of you have read this guy's books, paid for them and adhere to their principles.

The icing on the cake was his assertion that "Capitalism is a system where I work for nothing when I am young to support my old boss, so that one day I too can grow old and make my money off the labor of the new guard".

I thought of this speech yesterday as I drove across 6 states. There's something about being out in the world that complete changes your perspective. No, I don't mean out on the streets of the city, in a supermarket or on the subway. I mean outside of the bubble, watching life as it happens in real time. Not being somebody's bitch and deluding yourself that this is what you actually want.

I started before dawn and spent the whole day in the ride. Alone with the road. Wind in your hair or in my case, lack thereof. Smell of gasoline and the purr of the engine.

Watching the sun come up and set in front of your eyes is a feeling that can't be described and even though we've all done it a million times, there's something about this particular show when you're present from the time the screen goes up to when it drops over the stage. Clears your head in a whole different way...

This really is a beautiful country and we often forget it. Some of us may not even be aware to begin with. You can't see this array of corn field, ocean sized lake, sloping mountain range and ultimately, ocean again any place else. Well, if you've got time to stop at borders and hit hotels and such...

But nothing really compares to a road trip and the freedom and clarity it brings.

I'm older than most of you guys, but still young enough to have plenty of indentured servitude ahead of me. Whether you work for yourself or a conglomerate, you only get a set amount of time on this planet. Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me of this fact. So, in between gaming your plan to take over the universe or at least, land on the buyside...take a minute to breathe it all in.

Life goes by pretty fast, if you don't stop to look around once in a while...you might miss it.