The few Native Americans still living in Monument Valley awaken every morning to the same view.
This may not sound particularly profound until we try to identify a single person in our social circle who can say the same. An adjacent home is renovated or a new garden is planted. The home across the street is torn down. The vacant lot next door gives way to a new shop or restaurant. The green field across the way is sliced in half by a new street. New neighborhoods spring up where there were once trees.
Not only is our physical environment constantly in flux, but also our professional lives and personal relationships. It has become exceedingly rare to spend a more than a few years at a single residence, to spend a career with the same company, or to spend a lifetime with the same spouse. As a result of this constant churn in all aspects of Western life, our homes are mere investments, our jobs mere methods for earning money, and our relationships mere tools of sexual satisfaction. But we are wealthy - oh so wealthy.
Unfortunately, all of our wealth cannot purchase the sense of permanence and inner peace of awakening every morning to the same view.
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