jaze, do you mean that the reality of job/home/family sucks when compared to the dream of freedom? I grew up during the hippie era and was fed that dream as a desirable thing. I think most ads for SUVs are the sad descendants of that whole ideal. What I have come to realize, however, is that being free to go where life takes one not only causes lonliness, it prevents one from being fulfilled in some important ways. Somewhere along the line from my hippie roots I bought a house, have been working the same job for twelve years, and have been married for sixteen years. What I have found is not a loss of freedom, but rather the addition of a sense of roots. I used to say, "Be Here Now", but now I finally feel all the way here -- emotionally and physically as well as spirtiually.

The singer of the song lost Bobby McGee and regretted it, as well he should. There is nothing quite like being in love with someone for decades, knowing that there is someone you know so deeply and can trust so completely. I guess I'm lucky -- a lot of guys my age feel trapped by their marraiges and their mortgages and their jobs. I feel empowered, and that helps make me free.

Nah, reality doesn't suck at all.

John