Editor's Notes

Note from the Editor | Sep. 1, 2011

Nick Meyer |

Make sense?
 
Make sense?
I just hung a plant right in my field of vision from where I sit at my desk. It was previously hanging in the front window of our office, but the word was that it was getting too MUCH sun there. So now it hangs just eight feet beyond my workstation, just above the top of my computer display, where each day I can watch it grow at an imperceptible rate. It seems that’s the way it goes with healthy growth in general – whether it’s a plant, your kid, your business, your community, or the economy – it oftentimes grows so slowly that you can’t really see it. If you watch it every day, tying to see the growth, you won’t. And you’ll frustrate yourself in the process. But if you just keep doing your part, and help those around you to do their part too, then over time it will get where it needs to go. In the case of the economy, you can’t consume any national media these days without some measure of hysteria over the day-to-day fluctuations of the markets and other daily economic panics. But while it’s hard to see on a daily basis, the fact is the economy is growing and has been since 2009. Just not fast enough for the typical American attention span. It’s growing slowly and steadily, and perhaps some could argue, at a healthier rate. If everyone would just keep doing their part, things will be completely fine. But if we stare at it so hard every day that we convince ourselves it’s shrinking, the lack of confidence and the unreasonable panic will continue. So my completely unqualified advice is this: take the longish view, stop staring at it everyday, and you’ll feel better. Oh, and if you stop watching cable news, you’ll probably be happier too.