Born to Run

I was listening to Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (I don’t think there’s a band out there I don’t like. I love music.) and I was doing the “sitting in my desk chair bobbing my head� dance thinking ‘Yeah!’

Then it dawned on me. I could go anywhere…and odds are…so could you.

Isn’t that the essence of the freedom we all want? It’s not in the packing up and going, it’s in the knowing that you CAN pack up and go. The choice is what makes the freedom. Don’t get me wrong, there would be some pretty big hurdles to jump if I were to move to say, Italy. My husband works in a building at a standard 8am-8pm six day a week job that provides the health insurance for the family. That issue could be solved easily by going to a country that has health insurance as part of the country’s social structure.

It seems I’m in a classic rock mood today, because I’m reminded of Janis Joplin singing “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose� (originally written by Kris Kristofferson – come on, let’s hear it for Kris!) and maybe nothing left to lose doesn’t mean all your possessions in a bandanna tied to a stick anymore. It’s all in your perception of nothing to lose. If I don’t have to lose my job when I move, can it truly be considered “losable�?

There are a few gaps in the logic above, but I’m working it through. Some people do crosswords, others do sodoku…I think about how globalization will affect the way people view freedom.

America is fantastic. I love it, truly I do. I was just thinking about the simplicity of conversion rates and standard of living. Living in a nice little ranch house in the Midwest could, in another country, convert to a ranch with acres of land…it all depends on where you go.

If I really, really wanted to – I could go anywhere and still be right at home, doing the job I love.

It’s Globalization 2.0 – people realizing that globalization isn’t about jobs or who’s doing the work…but where we work and the choices we have and our personal definition of freedom.