Written While at Dinner Tuesday

While waiting for my dinner tonight I wrote this in my planner:


The PURSUIT of SELF KNOWLEDGE
   We spend our lives trying to fit a mold, be it society's, our own, our relatives, friends, lovers.  We spend our lives trying to be something and never succeeding.  We're told if we let go we can find contentment.  What if contentment is really just satisfaction in failure?


   Many great artists suffered their [entire] lives due to their dissatisfaction  with failure.  They refused to do anything displeasing to them, anything that degraded/ made them less than an artist.  You could say they led miserable lives because they never knew face, wealth, or even comfort, but they had the satisfaction of knowing they were true to themselves.


Perhaps when the forefathers promised us "the pursuit of happiness" they actually meant the right to be self-aware and confident in that.  If we could know who we are, what we want, strive for those things, and actually end up happy that would just be a fantastic little bonus, but if not we could always have the knowledge that we gave ourselves our all [because at the end of the day that's the best we can do and sometimes the only person we can please].

Written Sunday at Dinner

While sitting in a small restaurant in Norwich waiting for my meal I jotted on an envelope I had information for my stay written on:

Business travel - most people look forward to it.  It's glamorous - you get an expense account, the prestige of being a trusted employee, and the ability to see new, sometimes exotic places.

The reality - if you fly you see the airport, hotel, and where the meetings take place, including business dinners sometimes.  If you rent a car you can only put so many miles on it because work will only cover so much.  You get a crappy hotel and room - again because that's what work will cover.  If you drive your own car work may not reimburse your mileage and if they do they don't take into account what you drive.  [If you own an SUV this is a very bad thing.]  If they do they still have parameters.

If you travel to a foreign country you need to adjust to any language barriers, time difference, et cetera within a limited amount of time and then see a bunch of important people you don't know [while] seem[ing] intelligent and distinguished [all the while fighting] jet-lag.