PROGRESS REPORT: Floating along the last couple years
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I was chatting with a good friend of mine over some sushi the other night and the subject of the slowness of last few years came up. We both agreed that not only had the last couple years been hard economically, but it seemed that it was hard on us at a personal level as well.

I told her that it felt like I have been "just floating along the last two years or so". She told me she was interested I said that as another friend told her the same thing a couple days before. She thought about it and dismissed it as his own malcontent.

She dismissed the, even thought she felt it herself. She's the farthest thing from a whiner. But everyone needs to be tough these. The years before the end of the boom, before 9/11, before the right-wing's wars of empire, things felt not just economically and politically stable, but it afforded my generation an unprecedented opportunity for personal growth.

Not only were we getting better and better jobs, making more money and progressing in our careers, but we were also gaining much more self knowledge. We were meeting new and interesting people, trying new and interesting food, movies and wine, going new places and learning new things about ourselves.

The Late Nineties Boom was not just an economic boom but a boom of personal growth. Then came the crash and the ensuing political turmoil. New and valuable friends started to leave town, exciting new business opportunities vanished, people were happy simply to be employed and worked harder to stay that way, we ate in more, travelled less and reverted back to a survival mentality.

Granted, tough times are personal growth opportunities. As things changed, we started to look to more "substantial" ties like enjoying friends and family. Of course you need the bad to appreciate the good, but it felt like our collective train of progress got derailed.

So if you've been feeling like you are languishing in the economic doldrums and personal doldrums of your life, it may help to remember that you are not alone. And remember Phoenix, of the ancient Arabian legend, always arises from its ashes greater, stronger and more powerful than before. The light at the end of the tunnel is NOT an oncoming train.