i do agree that there are some good side effects but hopefully the bad ones don't exceed the good ones, i think stock market investors will stay depressed for a long period of time

As an American citizen, who was born and raised in a different country, it is American citizens' sense of entitlement regardless of whether or not they can afford it that has caused us to want better things and more things. A lot of middle-class Americans has never felt the hardships of generations past and now that the economy has dived, people are finally coming to terms with the important things in life.

Dear Shelley, Your post does point out the duality of the current situation. And that's what I believe creativity is really good at helping with--e.g. how to reframe and reevaluate the point of view we use to find viewpoints that are helpful in very difficult situations. I hope more people will begin to reevaluate their consumption habits as a result of the mess we are in. It does seem that in general we humans tend to find new directions through bumping into messy situations! The tough part in my opinion is how to learn from the bumps for the next time.
Phyllis Klein

I agree with your observations (big smile.) There is a major shift going on in how we find or make meaning. (I’m having my midlife crisis and am considering nursing as a second career.)

I’m going to borrow some words from this website, (http://durkheim.itgo.com/anomie.html) that go like this: “Perhaps more than ever before, members of Western society are exposed to the risk of anomie.” In addition to the word anomie, I would add the concepts phoenix, and ouroboros. (What can I say, I'm a lazy left brain writer and Wikipedia is fast and great for looking up unknown terminology.)

One last post, and I'll get out of your hair. Really, really, I do swear!

Transition

A psychotic break
Is not a mistake
It is the daimonic call
For the ego to fall
A spiritually sent
Healing event

As if to say:

Don't just survive
Now you can thrive
Silence the voices
You are your choices
Get rid of fear
And live my dear!

Unity
We are all woven and connected at this time and place
Because the moral hazard has blown up in our face
We are not free from the consequences of our actions
Passing the buck and passing the blame are only distractions

Careless greed untethered by the reigns of shame and guilt
Has wrecked great havoc on the house of cards we built
Each one topples one after another into the pit of despair
And I as an onlooker watch the commotion and stare

It is the end of the world as I know it and I thank God
I never cared for the money game just consider me odd
I want to spend more time with my family or a friend
And working for a buck or two just never seems to end

With destruction there is an opportunity for renewal
And this pile of horse manure could be a new fuel
To start a better system with greater satisfaction
Connected expansion is the solution to contraction

"Connected expansion is the solution to contraction"

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Defending his brand of world politics, President Barack Obama said Sunday that he "strengthens our hand" by reaching out to enemies of the United States and making sure that the nation is a leader, not a lecturer, of democracy.