by Laura Conaway

The Right Rev. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, on why layoffs can be good for us:

"Sometimes, people seem to be relieved to get off the treadmill and to be given an opportunity to reconsider what they really want out of life. One of the great implications of this turbulence for us is to re-boot our sense of what a truly flourishing human life consists of. The 'CrackBerry' culture is dangerously addictive and switching off from it is notoriously difficult."

For me, layoffs have always involved a least a measure of despair/panic. Maybe it's different in places where people don't have to worry so much about health insurance.