Reality Rules

"Reality-based community."

It was a term of disdain when used by an unnamed George W. Bush aide in the famous October 2004 New York Times article by Ron Suskind.

The aide defined that community as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." He explained, "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality-judiciously, as you will-we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out."

And we all see how that worked out.

Recently, a friend and I sorted it out in our own way. We tried to figure out why – at a time of personal and financial turmoil for a lot of Americans – a poll's right track/wrong track numbers had turned upside down.

An April AP poll found that 48 percent say the country is headed in the right direction, up eight points from February, while 44 percent believe the nation is on the wrong track. In October 2008, an AP poll showed the right track number at 17 percent.

So why the change when things still aren't looking too rosy?

My friend talked about her former life as the perfect fairy tale that kind of fell apart. But as we took a walk in the spring sunshine, she assured me she was happy and satisfied and just fine, thank you. Her family situation works on its own terms.

My life is a little more uncertain, as well. I left a real job last fall, and now I put together many jobs to make one. I used to say I traded security for freedom, until I realized that the security wasn't all that secure. But being on your own is a lot less stressful than waiting for the ax to fall, to having someone else in control of your future. The struggles that were always there are out there for all to see.

Welcome to reality.