Hungry heart

I was a consultant in my first job out of school.  It was a role well suited for my twenties: a healthy expense account, continuous travel, and diverse work.  In retrospect, it was a bit analogous to joining the Army - travel to exotic, distant lands, meet exciting, unusual people, and instead of killing them, upsell them on projects that were constantly growing in scope.  

In those years, I traveled away from New York City often or worked interminable hours.   My wife (then girlfriend) worked equally long hours at an advertising agency.  If we were both in Manhattan, we sometimes waited for each other to figure out whose company account would pay for the car service home that night.  As a result, my perspective of the city at the time was limited to dusk and nighttime; Sunsets were a special treat.

On those occasions, I remember looking at the sunset from my window adjacent cubicle, and watching the lines of cars streaming down the avenue, racing the last rays of light into the horizon. Hordes of people rushed on the streets, presumably back to their comfy homes and welcoming families.  I can distinctly recall the longing to be a part of that crowd, purposeful in direction and confident in their conclusion of a workday.

To this day, for me, the act of watching a sunset retains its luxury.  I strive to make time for it where I can, and try to satiate that leftover hunger from my earlier years.

Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart