Ulysses

I feel my life slipping by and my dreams fading away. I'm a 45-year-old insurance adjuster. I have a mortgage, two kids, and a reliable Honda Accord. Nothing about my life is noteworthy. I'm not building anything great or changing the world. I'm just... existing. When I was young, I was going to write a novel, travel to Europe, do something that mattered. Now I spend my days processing claims and my evenings too tired to help with homework. Sometimes I feel OK with my ordinary life. Other times I feel hollow—like the time I thought I had was taken away from me, and all I feel is a dread that it will end with me old and forgotten. Is there heroism in the ordinary? Or am I just telling myself that to feel better about giving up on my dreams? — Average in Albuquerque

Wisdom & Purpose Debate: Meaning in ordinary life. Leopold Bloom's everyday heroism meets Don Quixote's noble dreaming.

The Day and the Universe