The nice feelings continue to roll in as I carry on with the process of pulling up my stakes. I'm semi-resolved not to really worry about it. Why sweat a good thing?
It seems to me that as long as I can say Out Front, things are going to be ok. This is one of the terms Ken Keasy used when he talked about the Prankster way of being open and honest. In his time, a lot of people were struggling with a set of social expectations and roles that were much more restrictive than what we deal with today.
I think our generation faces a different challenge. We have a much lighter set of social norms, but we also live in a civilization which is deeply steeped in the art of manipulation through image/information management. There's somewhat less pressure to fit into an established cookie-cutter role, but there's a lot more temptation -- maybe even an expectation -- to try and manage perceptions, to create a story about ourselves.
A lot of business works this way, and a lot of relationships (romantic or friendly) do too. Getting Out Front in the modern context means dropping the act. It's less an escape and more a surrender, but it's no less important, I think.
