I just flew in to DFW from a few days in some beautiful areas north of Santa Barbara and riding along the Pacific Coast Highway, viewing gorgeous vineyards, lush green mountains, and visiting with people who work the land where the restaurants usually close by 8:00pm.

I decided to stop in at Hard 8 BBQ on the way home from DFW. When I sat down, I noted that a few tables away there was a group of corporate shills. You know, they all look like they shop at the same store, usually Brook Bros., and J. Crew. They weren't eating. I suppose they'd already eaten as they were having a business meeting. One guy, oldest of the bunch was obviously the big swinging dick of whatever mind-numbingly sterile and architecturally non-binary corporate building they'd come from. 30 minutes have passed and he's been talking incessantly non-stop for the entire time, regaling the eight others with his corporate genius, them hanging on his every syllable lest they might look bored at his tales of slaying the career of some bland corporate director who presented a challenge he'd overcome to "get where he is today", I presume. Or some fricking bullshite like that.

Together, they all look like soul-less slaves to a corporate machine, hell bent on achieving conformity by the squashing of independent thought and new ideas. I look at them and presume they are discussing their latest plans to instill even more corporate inclusivity goals in order to up their ESG score ratings.

I have matured and self-examined my life. What I want, what I want to finish before I leave, and the mark I leave behind when I'm gone. I bemoan the fact that that group of corporate types in the BBQ restaurant was me for many years. The older I've gotten, the less I suffer the trappings of corporatism, AND the more I eschew the robotic allegiance it demands to the carrot-on-a-stick quarterly results. I've seen it chew up and spit out excellent people who had incredible vision and energy, only because the corporate machine demands conformity and agreement. It is very disillusioning to see incredible opportunities get brushed under a rug because it might be too evolutionary, too quick (or the right person didn't own the idea).

When I get a chance to, I want to talk to my kids about their life's journey. My daughter already has a nice corporate gig lined up after she graduates in the spring. I know it'll be a new adventure for her, and I don't want to discourage her. She's worked hard for this, but I want to make sure she understands that the most important thing is to be true to herself, and to pursue her own happiness, not the next rung up the corporate ladder unless she somehow finds that to be enormously fulfilling. I wasted a lot of life doing that myself. Sure, there's perks along the way, but ultimately, it's not life-fulfilling and it leaves you empty inside. There's a lot more to life than answering to a bean-counter and constantly working to achieve revenue numbers. Took me a while to figure it out, and what made me stop and write this, was that as I was looking at everyone at that table, I was feeling sorry for them.

This is just the ramblings of an older guy whose outlook on life right now is better than its ever been. There's just not a lot that I care about anymore, insofar as corporate work goes. I'm just tired of the fakeness and insincerity of people and the gristmill of corporate life. I'd much rather spend time making or recording music, writing a novel, using my planning skills and energy to improve the community or assist a charity. Anything but conform within a corporate environment.

tl;dr
Wall of words. Apologies. Hope everyone gets it.

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