A Little Perspective

There’s a guy by the name of Kinky Friedman. He’s a country songwriter, an author and a social commentator. He just happens to be running for governor of Texas in 2006, as well. All in all, he’s a bit loony and a bit brilliant -- as far as I can surmise.

I was watching an interview with him the other night and learned something quite interesting about him. It turns out that the majority of songs he wrote about the United States, he wrote while living on the island of Borneo. And the only song he wrote about Borneo was written upon his return. As he put it, you just see the whole picture of a place a lot clearer when you’re not existing within its confines.

Having just returned from vacation, I can tell you that the same holds true for work. A little bit of space adds a lot of clarity to the job. It puts a bit of perspective on the hundreds of emails flooding my inbox, the silly tensions that mount in the office, the things so many of us allow to stress us out. You don’t have to travel very far or for very long to get a broader point of view; I took four days off and stayed right here in Massachusetts. But a little time away can make all the difference. Thank goodness for vacations (too bad Americans pass up so much of them).

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