I suppose most of us are a repository of different ideas and beliefs... on the whole, I would characterize myself as fairly well "grounded" in something we might call "*reality,*" but at the same time I am *hopeful* that there is more between Heaven and Earth than immediately meets the eye.

![0762Purple.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/denmarkguy/lN4DywFz-0762-Purple.jpg)

"*It Seems*" that this year — and this *summer*, in particular — has been hard on a lot of people. 

Not necessarily "*hard*" in the sense that there is direct hardship and suffering *(although that has certainly been part of the picture),* but hard in a way I would characterize more as *"the summer of slain hope."* 

Now, I'm open to the possibility that it's human nature to look for patterns that anchor our beliefs, and so I might be noticing a trend I can relate to my personal situation. But I don't think so... because my state of hope for the future is actually pretty good.

I'm not just having hunches, here.

At our little art gallery, no less than *eight* of about 40 artists we work with have decided to stop "working" with art, and have returned to office, restaurant server and other jobs in the past six months. As compared to *three* in the previous two *years.*

A record number of my colleagues who make most of their living from various forms of independent selling on eBay have thrown in the towel this year. For the first time I can remember (and I've been selling on eBay since 1996!) there seems to be a "*net migration*" OUT of online selling.

In our local town, we seem to be in a period where more shops are *closing* than *opening.*

![0204Grass3.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/denmarkguy/2L2vHd0x-0204-Grass3.jpg)

Even here on Steemit, it seems there are a lot of dashed hopes... people who thought they were going to "*have an income*" here basically giving up on that idea. 

I am just making observations here... not trying to have a pity party.

But getting back to the *"Collective Energy"* thing, why right now? All the economic data and reporting points to a *healthy* economy. 

Some of the people I have talked to who are quitting aren't even doing so for *economic* reasons; they are doing so because they are plain old *tired.* And I grok that. I am sitting here, writing this blog post at 11:35pm because it's the first opportunity have had today to "*not be running.*" I feel tired, too. And I am only writing because I am a really determined type... I'd really rather be in bed, right now.

And I am having these musings because it seems like a lot of people seem to have the same idea at the same time. What's up with that?

**How about YOU?** Do you think people tend to move in the same direction, quite often? Is there some type of "collective energy" that ties us — even if loosely — together? **Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!**

![xSteemitBloggers.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/denmarkguy/nhiO2Zxa-x-SteemitBloggers.jpg)

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Created at 180916 00:28 PDT*