The Age of Excess

Thoughts on my walk this morning. At age 19, 2012 was a scary time. The Great Recession loomed over the job market and the aftereffects of the Occupy Wall Street populist movement weighed on me.

How often do you think about greed and gluttony? If you’re an anti-capitalist, it’s probably at the top of your head most days.

When I was 19 —more than a decade ago—I moved from the eastern part of the United States to the Pacific Northwest.

My mom thought the entire idea was crazy. In hindsight, it was pretty crazy because I planned as much as I could and left everything else—the unknown— up to chance.

I never really told her why I moved so far away right after graduation.

Some of my friends knew, but I moved away to give myself some structure. I wanted to be responsible, like my older brothers and sisters.

I didn’t know anyone in Washington State. Except a former coworker who moved back home. (I was 19 years old while we worked together and still 19 when I met up with her again across the country months later)

Two days after I landed at the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, I was at my former coworker’s condo at a kickback in Bellevue, Washington. I’m not sure who that adventurous kid was, but I do miss him.

At age 19, 2012 was a scary time. The Great Recession loomed over the job market, and the aftereffects of the Occupy Wall Street populist movement weighed on me in college. I eventually dropped out to pursue personal projects.

You know, writing projects like this one.