The Great Uncertainty

I recently finished a powerful novel that referred to intense grief as The Great Sadness. This level of sadness envelopes one's entire being - physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. And this led me to the connection of what life has become like for those being impacted by the recession - The Great Uncertainty.

Admittedly, my life to this point has been charmed. From the luck of having wonderful parents that invested in my education to the joy of sharing parenthood with my husband, life has been good. My life has followed the plan that I wanted for myself - which works well for my Type A personality (I make lists for other lists).

So with our economic world turned upside down, I find myself in this quagmire of The Great Uncertainty. Where is our economy going? How can small businesses gain access to working capital? What will happen to the middle class? If unemployment is now 8.9%, how high will it go? And where will the new jobs come from? How long will it take for the automotive supply chain to be reshapened? Will 20% of automotive suppliers really be out of business by the end of 2009? How will Ohio recover from lost jobs? What impact will the state's budget cuts have on our social system? Will our children realize a better life than ours?

These heady questions and the demands of business today create an internal pressure cooker for those in tune with what is going on... and it is intense and stressful. For the first time in my adult life, I occasionally have trouble sleeping at night, thinking of how much (and how quickly) the tides of good fortune can change... and if they will come back.

For anyone that knows me, this is as doom and gloom as I get - I tend to be an eternal optimist. So do I think that we will be smarter individuals when the economy recovers? Yes - I do.  I think we will be smarter, wiser, less greedy and more practical. And probably an improved and stronger version of ourselves.

But in the meantime, look to this excellent list of Survival Strategies from the New York Times: http://projects.nytimes.com/survival-strategies?ref=economy.  I will be sure to visit it again the next time I can't sleep.