Future

There is a sweetness that fills the house when the dinner table is full of guests. The menu is planned to perfection; the house is sparkling clean. The demands of the work week are quieted and the lengthy to-do lists are put away from view. The guests are welcomed and coats are taken.

Names are very important.
I remember visiting my high school a couple years after I graduated and running into one of the more stern teachers IΓÇÖd had. ΓÇ£Hi, Mr. Finch.ΓÇ¥ Warmly, my former teacher said, ΓÇ£Call me Scott.ΓÇ¥ I was a bit taken aback at first. We werenΓÇÖt on a first name basis when I was a student. But our relationship had changed. The teacher/student dynamic had morphed into something more personal.

I am a competent person. I have a job, I pay my rent, I file my taxes early. (Well, I did once.) I am a great person to have at parties because I make other people feel comfortable and welcome. I can make dinner for friends and have been doing my own laundry for quite some time. I read books and keep up with news. I can have a decent conversation about the merits of several baseball teams.

Are you well acquainted with waiting? I would guess we all are to a degree, but I wonder how close a companion waiting has become for you. I love to hear peopleΓÇÖs stories and a lot of us have this common thread: lots of waiting.

Our feeling that we are locked in a sinking ship with no way out is nothing new. We just come up with new ways to try and appease this nagging sense that things arenΓÇÖt right.
One popular one as of late is technology. We think weΓÇÖll be able to code our way to a better future. But there is a distinct sense as the technological age matures that endless information actually brings more sadness than joy, and in fact the thing we thought would make the world better is actually making the world worse.