Not your Momma's Life Path

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to design that balanced life.  There's probably no such thing, but to be able to spend all the time you want to with your family, to feel accomplished and purposeful (but not burned out) in your work, to have time to pursue enriching and creative hobbies that fulfill you, and to be healthy and shape your life in harmony with the planet instead of always battling it - these are things that should be possible in the 21st century. 

And they are to some - I read their blogs, pick up their books, see them on TV, occasionally even run into them in real life.  They're out there.  I think what they all have in common is that they woke up one day and said, "This is crap.  I want out."  And then they got out.  Not of life, but of that entity, that thing, that feels foreign to us every day and keeps us from living out our dreams. 

It's not about quitting your job and taking off to join the Peace Corps, necessarily.  Or living on an island in the Caribbean and fishing for your food every day.  But with all the tools and technology at our disposal, we ought to be able to fashion a life worth living out of the raw materials we have.  Something with balance and integrity and community.  "...a new reality, closer to the heart," as Rush says (the supremely talented band, not the opiate-popping mouthpiece of conservative idiots).  I'm going to keep working on my blueprints.  Contact me with any suggestions.