Wisdom Comes From the Most Unexpected Places

Today, I was reading "Notes from Anne" from the Anne Kerry Ford website. Don't ask me why I was reading it; prurient curiosity, I suppose. Yet, today, I was shocked and surprised to find, on generally what is a self-promoting, self-congratulatory site, something of great depth, substance, and personal meaning to me. Wisdom does, indeed, come from the most unexpected places.

"The Nightingale"

I built my house beside the wood
So I could hear you singing
And it was sweet and it was good
And love was all beginning

Fare thee well my nightingale
`Twas long ago I found you
Now all your songs of beauty fail
The forest closes `round you

The sun goes down behind a veil
`Tis now that you would call me
So rest in peace my nightingale
Beneath your branch of holly

Fare thee well my nightingale
I lived but to be near you
Though you are singing somewhere still
I can no longer hear you

- Leonard Cohen

So... Who The Hell Am I, Anyway?

I am a one of those people known as a "Boomer" and now, am somewhere between the ages of 50 and death. Like most people of my generation, I have a strong work ethic, an insatiable curiosity, and I am ever in search of the proverbial "American Dream." That dream has altered greatly since I first learned of it. My original understanding of it was that anyone who worked hard and applied themselves, could achieve whatever they wanted in this life as an American. While I have, to some extent, achieved the American dream, I find myself railing at how that dream has changed and, unfortunately, how we who worked so hard to achieve it are now being penalized for having met with some measure of success.