Clearing my mind

On August 20, 2010 we arrived back in NY.  These are a few things I noticed about life since I got back.

• The traffic - It seems to me that the traffic has increased substantially and driving in the city is like being on a battle field. 
• Tolls- The price of tolls has hiked since two years. Traveling has become more expensive for us since the west coast pampered us with toll free roads and wide open spaces.
• Getting started - It is turning out to a challenge to get started or perhaps to get restarted. It is easier to change lanes when your car is already moving than a parked car. The job situation is much worse than I had actually imagined.
• Pursuit of happiness - The drive for the pursuit of happiness is ever more obvious now than ever. It really depends on what "happiness" is to you. Is it earthly or eternal? 
• World of self service - Payment counters, grocery check out, ordering kiosk, donation counters, among many others have adopted self service.
• Fearing the known - People seemed to have adopted this slogan today. Fearing the UNKNOWN is no longer applicable when people have enough to fear about the KNOWN.
• Out of Focus - My recent love of photos and my hubby's amateur shots has got me thinking. It is natural to want to have everything in focus. It is easy to have job, school, family, church, sports, music, and entertainment in focus. Americans are thriving and we are doing a good job  I think. It is much harder to get everything else out of focus but one. 

There are probably a lot more I can think about and jot down but like my title says I am using this post to simply clear my mind.