Many of us are drawn to quaint locomotives, steamships, anything driven by that old-timey, strangely romantic expansion of water vapor. The lulling chug-chug and the shrill call of the steam whistle remind us of yesteryear’s graceful pace.

But recently, I was reading an 1880’s edition of John Greenleaf Whittier’s poetry, and I ran across a poem of lament. He hated the newfangled steam engines on the Mississippi river and yearned for the sailing ships of his boyhood. He hated the noise and smoke that was replacing the quiet passing of oars and wind-filled sails.

It’s amazing how life perspectives can change when you’re looking back on history’s future.

But regardless of persective, life is hard to define, and we’re constantly retuning our understanding of it. One defining clause that usually remains is “a living thing is constantly changing.” Life is never static. It always moves, grows, shifts around us in some way. So does history, and we grow and move with it.

Anything that isn’t changing is dead.

I was to a coworker last night, and they mentioned a few priority changes that had improved work efficiency. And that’s what our modern-history world is about. Food is prepackaged. Cars are fast and fuel-efficient. Electronic-everything manages our house temperature, deposits our income, and reminds us to pick the kids up from school.

My friend and I both have jobs that require efficiency. Our cerebrovascular and cardiac flowprobes can reduce or eliminate OR bringback, saving surgeons time and saving hospitals tens of thousands of dollars. How many devices pay for themselves the first time they prevent a problem?

Efficiency, it seems, is everything.

But after I’ve picked up the kids on time, or ridden an old-timey steam engine on a vacation tour, or saved a patient’s life while using this device…

Maybe I’ll go sit on the porch for a while and watch the clouds pass. They make no more noise than a sailing vessel once did.

Anything that isn’t changing is dead.

But a walk through the woods might remind me of the graceful pace that history changes, and how beautiful that can be.

Thanks for reading,

               Transonic Systems, Inc

                    The Measure of Better Results