Simpler – hmmmm? To some – yes. To some – no. I think it all depends on the person, their circumstances and what their definition of the word “simpler” is.
I always thought I loved my creature comforts, modern conveniences and fast-paced life. ...new cars, vacation trips, furniture, nice house, newest electronic gadgetry, nice clothes, club memberships, quilt store shopping every week... Life was good, and I had gobs of time to do other things - or so I thought. I had to work hard at a high stress job with some (sometime lots) of overtime and work-related travel to afford those things, but at least we could afford them - we were the lucky ones. And to many people that is OK and what makes their life simple - being able to enjoy those comforts and conveniences.
As time has gone by, my heart has chosen a different path. For me, I definitely felt my life was NOT simpler - I was busy doing what I needed to do to purchase and maintain those things, but it was not settling my restless soul. I was drawn to the “old ways” of handmade and home-grown, a more “vintage” lifestyle, a slower pace. All these modern conveniences and the fast pace of my life should allow me to squeeze in more stuff - like hand quilting a baby quilt or growing my own vegetables instead of buying them from the store, right?
But as I tried to work those "old ways" into my modern life, I just became more and more stressed, and less and less happy. Sure wasn't feeling like I was living the "simple life"! Over the last 2 years, as the "old ways" have developed a stronger and stronger pull on me, I have begun my search for true contentment by re-evaluting how to live the elusive "simple life".
I tried to figure out the error in my thinking - why did these modern conveniences not make it easier for me to do the things I really was wanting to do now - produce everything with my hands, not my wallet. So I drew this chart out (you can tell I am an analytical person):
This shows me that TIME is the problem here - the need or want for modern conveniences and creature comforts are the driver of your time, where the availability of time allows you to do the handmade/home-grown ways. Both goals are rewarding on their own (which I will cover in a future Simpler Living blog), but tough to achieve both (unless you have an inheritance and don't have to work) without stressing or sacrificing due to the way TIME fits into each lifestyle.
This analysis helped me realize that to truly do what I wanted to be doing - and to feel like I was living the "simple life", I had to change the way I use my available time and what the use of that time will enable me to have or achieve, and what I will have to give up.
This may be obvious to you, and you may have a good method of compromising that works for you - that is awesome!!! But for me, I see it working for me only if I give up a lot of the creature comforts and modern conveniences so that I can live the handmade, home-grown old-way lifestyle that I am now craving.
Blessings,
Kat
