Saturday, December 17, 2011

Outer Life: Empty Middle Seat

I read this post several times this morning, and thought I would share this fine bit of bloggery.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Having traveled too much, and enjoyed first class flights and five star dining, business class cabins and three star restaurants, economy class and Burger King, it became clear that having the time to NOT travel was my real luxury.

Ditto with too much money, as with too large a library or too extensive a collection of whatever.

The answer is that things, assets and stuff have YOU. Not the other way around. The materialist philosophers which includes much of today's political climate focuses on money, money and money when not thinking about power, power and power. That's all the fills the news I tend now to ignore.

Then there's the older me, who once had to hob-nob with the likes of the rich and powerful. Now I have my time, don't have to travel unless I so wish it, and spend time with those whom I choose. Unsurprisingly this means most of those with whom I once dealt are no longer of my happy small circle.

This is what liberty really is. I feel free from poverty as from wealth, free from utopian visions as from too much practicality. Gosh, it turns out I have time to actually live my life.

And even the empty middle seat is no longer an aspiration, but only a memory.