let's talk about unemployment...

I know. It's a cheery Thanksgiving topic. I'll post a second, actually cheerful, topic in a moment.

But. I have a question. Why is unemployment so much worse for people in non-professional jobs vs. managerial ones, people without college degrees vs. people with them? The nifty Times graphic shows it off pretty nicely (or depressingly). And why is professional unemployment the first to decline? [Well, technically it might not be a decline, adjusted for seasonality, but it didn't increase in October.]

There's a lot of reporting about unemployment levels across groups, but not a lot of explanation. I suspect that we keep professionals around to "weather the storm" (strategize about what comes next) but consider people who actually make and sell things to be more interchangeable and expendable, probably using all those cringe-inducing words like "human resources" and "human capital". Just as stock prices level out after drops... when we fire a bunch of people who formerly made and sold things. But that's my suspicion. Anyone read anything (or just know anything) that would offer a more concrete explanation?

enough

Please take a pen and a sheet of paper. Go to the foot of a tree or to your writing desk, and make a list of all the things that can make you happy right now: the clouds in the sky, the flowers in the garden the children playing, the fact that you have met the practice of mindfulness, your beloved ones sitting in the next room, your two eyes in good condition. The list is endless. You have enough already to be happy now. You have enough to no longer be agitated by fear or anger.

—Thich Nhat Hanh in Taming the Tiger Within: Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions, as quoted by this email practice I get every couple of days.

On my list (which is, indeed, endless) at the moment:
- Mid-atlantic seasons. I like feeling both hot and cold.
- The present-moment-ness of the animals around me
- My wacky parents, who are always a couple of steps ahead of me at understanding this whole life thing. I suspect this is how the whole generation thing is supposed to work.
- Those other family, the ones who choose each other. With a special shout-out to Tara, who gives good love note.
- The people who make art with me. People who make art not with me are also pretty cool. Thanks for doing that, y'all.
- Technology that enables human connections. Whether it's creating and keeping relationships or funny pictures of cats or fundamentally changing the way people think aout other people or playing games with my parents and people I knew in high school or people getting to talk way too much about werewolves and vampires. I love it ALL.
- Human connections that create technology. And, you know, other stuff.
- Color. Man, colors make me happy.
- So, technically my eyes are not in good condition, but the ungoodness of one has led to lots of interesting information gathering, and reminded me how much I love learning.
- Financially having enough. Maybe too much, certainly by global standards.
- Breathing. Not in a snarky way! Breathing is awesome, of course, but awareness of it is also a fantastic tool for perspective.
- My fully-functioning body.
- Cooking without recipes.
- ZOMG EVERYTHING SERIOUSLY MY LIFE IS AWESOME.

How about you?