{"id":138,"date":"2022-07-26T15:20:42","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T15:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memora8ilia.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/26\/a-matter-of-degrees\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T15:20:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T15:20:42","slug":"a-matter-of-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/memora8ilia.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/26\/a-matter-of-degrees\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"npf_row\">\n<figure class=\"tmblr-full\" data-orig-height=\"652\" data-orig-width=\"870\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/64.media.tumblr.com\/15568939ac1378c293d49b7d38d53402\/50b713bab455df0e-b3\/s640x960\/436ba55cc4abd2b3f8332278329a46a2260d32d1.jpg\" data-orig-height=\"652\" data-orig-width=\"870\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\u275d Most people walk away from their dreams sooner or later, usually in tiny steps that are hardly noticeable, the course altered by fractional degrees until it leads to a reversal of the poles. The childhood fantasy of becoming an astronaut or paleontologist fades into paying down a credit card or finding low-deductible insurance. Big dreams die every minute in this country, crushed into the smaller ones that keep us setting our alarm clocks, buying paper towels, and checking the weather forecast.\u00a0Lose enough faith, and you might forget how to live. Bills and bank statements begin to look like fiction, baffling abstractions that have nothing to do with the real business of being alive. Words like\u00a0<i>appointment<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<i>Thursday<\/i>\u00a0lose their meaning, and you increasingly find yourself spaced-out in the grocery store, struggling to remember what you like to eat. You might begin to spend time in bars or churches, searching for instructions. Some people will recognize this starved look in your eye. They will see you as a kindred spirit or easy prey. Either way, they will find you. And they will talk to you. \u275e <a href=\"https:\/\/atlasminor.com\/a-matter-of-degrees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">*<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>If you only read one blog on the regular, make it <a href=\"https:\/\/atlasminor.com\/journal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">James A. Reeves&rsquo; Atlas Minor<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"npf_link\" data-npf='{\"type\":\"link\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/atlasminor.com\/a-matter-of-degrees\/\",\"display_url\":\"https:\/\/atlasminor.com\/a-matter-of-degrees\/\",\"title\":\"A Matter of Degrees\",\"description\":\"Interstate Scene 4: Lose enough faith, and you might forget how to live.\",\"site_name\":\"Atlas Minor\",\"poster\":[{\"media_key\":\"af07ea852a52725d44a03a6739f084cf:50b713bab455df0e-0f\",\"type\":\"image\/jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1920}]}'><a href=\"https:\/\/atlasminor.com\/a-matter-of-degrees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Matter of Degrees<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u275d Most people walk away from their dreams sooner or later, usually in tiny steps that are hardly noticeable, the course altered by fractional degrees until it leads to a reversal of the poles. The childhood fantasy of becoming an astronaut or paleontologist fades into paying down a credit card or finding low-deductible insurance. Big [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[633,632,101,634],"class_list":{"0":"post-138","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-american-dream","8":"tag-blog","9":"tag-james-a-reeves","10":"tag-losing-faith","11":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>- MEMORA8ILIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/memora8ilia.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/26\/a-matter-of-degrees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"- MEMORA8ILIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u275d Most people walk away from their dreams sooner or later, usually in tiny steps that are hardly noticeable, the course altered by fractional degrees until it leads to a reversal of the poles. The childhood fantasy of becoming an astronaut or paleontologist fades into paying down a credit card or finding low-deductible insurance. 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