Reflecting on Escape
As a lifelong theme
North America is nothing if not a culture of aspiration. The status quo has always been something to be moved along from, if not outright abhorred. As I sit through another Canadian winter, thoughts turn to migration to somewhere warm. As a retiree, there are very sound reasons of health, travel and leisure to do so. As I consider my options, I see a familiar pattern unfolding.
In my working years, my relationship with my workplace was quietly adversarial. My trust had been broken at an early age and it stayed broken for thirty five years. Throughout that time, I plotted numerous career changes that never quite materialized. I thought of escape constantly. Not from work itself, but from being stuck where I felt was wasting my potential and a major piece of my life.
This is not to say that I did not have pay, pensions and benefits that were the envy of many. I was told so repeatedly. But as western culture is aspirational, so is it comparative. Everyone seems to think everyone else has it made. I heard and read much about about gratitude from business leaders to philosophers. While I was grateful for health, friends and family, that was where it ended.
This is not to say that I did not deal with these adversities directly. I did. Despite these aborted attempts at a worldly self-realization, I never…
