A lot of these columns over the last couple of years or so seem to be on subjects such as change and loss.
Perhaps it’s not so surprising, from 2020 on we’ve all dealt with tons of new ideas, new challenges, and new paths that have altered the world around us.
Regardless of the ‘whys’ of the matter, no one can deny this is not the same world we were living in when the current year did not end with a twenty on the end of it.
Our economic system for one seems to have been one thing that changed drastically, something you see every time you go out and purchase well…anything. Be it an item as everyday and casual as milk or or a larger ‘purchase’ such as the cost of housing, you can be sure the price went up in the last two years, more likely is it went up multiple times and is significant.
This and other factors over the last couple years has led to the more rapid demise of many small businesses and those that benefit from their operation.
Sadly I have a first row seat at a family run convenience store that I worked at years ago and I find myself employed at again, and the business seems to be in dire straits.
Shelves are empty, where they were only somewhat empty last time I was here, some of the customer base was older in age before and sadly, they too seem like empty spaces on a once full shelf, no longer seen.
Vendors no longer come, items are overpriced, mostly because you cannot compete today in the age of WalMart and Amazon, and maintenance on store property is not done because the profit margin will not allow it.
What’s most sad is all the little stories, all the lives the store touched, all the memories that family have made running the store for over two decades, they cannot be taken but neither can they be made real again.
I suppose I should find some kind of spiritual or philosophical ‘nugget’ out of all this, some lesson or catchy mantra that takes all that misery and turns it on its head like: “It is always darkest before the dawn.”
Perhaps it is better this way, where the horror at the ever changing path of life and the fear of not being able to adapt are the most real and raw.
Like a nature film where you know every animal might not survive the daily battles depicted on screen, but you know that the battles are just and fair nonetheless.
That in itself could be that ‘nugget’ I mentioned before, that the fight is fair as can be when it culls out the unprepared and those lost in a time warp.
Even when you’re at that last logical step, the thing that no one ever wants to happen to love affairs, business deals, periods in personal history, and any other time your back is against the wall, and you feel threatened from potentially losing aspects of our lives.
Sometimes it’s better to trust the path put in front of you again, even if the path itself becomes painful to walk on.
