Sunday, October 11, 2009

The Pastoral City

It's in October that cities takes on a pastoral look. Pumpkins on bales of hay in front of grocery stores and in stalls set up on empty lots by the roadside. Orange on yellow evokes autumn, as do falling sycamore, maple and sweet gum leaves. Cars drive over and the leaves swirl, rise, and descend like confetti, only to rise and fall again as other cars follow.

You can see the anxiety on people's faces as the uncertain times claim their toll. Morning mist there's aplenty in the city but mellow fruitfulness seems a thing of the past. Children bundle up against rain and wind. They too sense the struggle confronting mom and dad and do not smile like before.

Yes, falling leaves continue to remind us of our mortality. And yes, the times are tough. The way out, though, is to shed old thinking and to reinvent oneself. The temptation is strong to settle for a job, any job, that will put food on the table and help make the minimum payment on credit cards, but that will be extraordinarily shortsighted. Go through the hardship but resolve not to work at a thankless, passionless job ever again. For everyone, there is a second act in America that promises to be better than the first. If there ever was a time to be an entrepreneur that reflects one's passion, this is it. We cannot achieve our dreams unless we burn the old bridges and begin anew. What's there to lose?

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