Well I have made it back to the great US of A. The time in Canada was very enjoyable. I ate a bag of ketchup chips a day, so needless to say it is a great thing I am away from them, or I would get really large real fast. The week sit in Ottawa was nice, I did some shopping on black friday, even though it isn't celebrated there, which made the mall more bearable. Monday we were in Hamilton, Ontario, yesterday we had a day off in Michigan City, Indiana, and today we have our first arena show in Cedar Rapids, IA. We then go to a day off in Greensburg, IN, then on to Knoxville, TN for Friday and Saturday and Morganton, NC on Sunday. In Morganton we will have a matinee load in which means we will start working at 6, after having gone to bed after a load out in TN at probably 1:30-2.
Junto:
I was reading an article a while back, I think it was in the New Yorker, and the author (Anthony Lane) wrote, "...but my guess is that, like so many blessings, it won't make us happy. It will make us want more." I wonder what it is about human nature that when we get a blessing/gift/whatever you would prefer to call it, we almost automatically go to wanting more. We totally miss out on the gift because we spend all our time focusing on how we don't have enough of it, even though we didn't have to have the gift...it was a blessing to get. Sadly, this occurs in a lot of life. We are given an unbelievable experience, but instead of recognizing the blessing in it, we complain about how we don't have enough. Why is it so hard for us as humans, and those that know me well know my love of cliches, "stop and smell the roses". Is it something we are born with that makes us ungrateful? Is it part of our society as Americans that make us always yearn for more? I have heard numerous stories of people who have gone to other countries that are in the throes of poverty, and yet they report that they have never seen people so happy with so little. Is never being grateful a curse of those who have?
That's oversimplifying it a little bit. It's not as if ALL Americans are one way, and all people in 3rd world countries/living simply are another. There are always bunches of people who are ungrateful for their circumstances no matter what. That being said, it is a little easier to appreciate something appreciable when you've been deprived of it. A "sense of entitlement" is what, perhaps, some Americans have when they oughtn't. Ie: I have a college degree, so I'm entitled to a starting white-collar job, right? Apparently, not in this economy ...
ReplyDelete@Neesi - I will agree that I have made some mass generalizations in my statements. I also agree that some Americans definitely struggle with "sense of entitlement" issues. Great point!
ReplyDelete