Lived here a decade and I am still shocked by how many people I see around Portland who have absolutely no goals. Some own homes, have pets, have good jobs, but that's it. They maybe have a few hobbies that focus on their home or dog, but they seemingly have no purpose or drive in life.

One does not need to be religious or spiritual to have a stake in the most common of goal, to make the world better. And yet, even this goal (one linked to our own survival and evolution) is seemingly lost within the vapid mind of the locals too busy focusing on the next best pop-up club, where to sit on bluffs or if their dog loves them. I constantly meet people whose entire being seems wrapped in the idea that individual pleasure for the sake of pleasure is a meaningful goal, and not, I don't know, selfish and childish?

If they're not wrapped up in themselves, they've seemingly given up. For these others even a trip to the grocery store is work. I think it's also call depression.

Also, with everything life now has to offer, if all you have are the trappings of a scripted, mundane life, a job, a house and a dog, I really feel sorry for you. That all sounds so trite.