two lives

In another life, I talked to school principals about libraries, talked to publishers about bilingual publications, talked to contractors about foundations and the ratio of cement to sand in a sand-strapped economy, talked to academics about identity, talked to filmmakers about what is home, talked to soldiers about poverty, talked to Buddhist monks about child psychology.

In this life, my life is punctuated by watching Covert Affairs, about a Jo Malone perfume-wearing covert agent who had a steamy affair in Sri Lanka that she can't get over, directed by Tim Matheson who I used to avidly watch in Sri Lanka when he was in the West Wing, - and think that it's good television, go to work in a glass tomb sealed off from reality, navigate the crowds of midtown in order to consume more, not less, and repeat the cycle endlessly.

I am sure there is cause for deep despair somewhere in here. But I cannot sadly say that have the faith and optimism needed to live the first life well, only the cynicism and weariness to live the second.