One dress.
Two rooms.
Vegetables from the garden.
Games in the backyard.
At times, these thoughts appeal to me and I wonder if I should've been born centuries ago when women didn't have clothes to coordinate; they had one or two dresses. No large house to maintain, only one or two rooms. No chains of grocery stores to find the right bargain, they plucked from their garden. No sport practices, the kids played outside in the fields.
As much as I'd like to say that's how I want to live, I can't imagine one lone hook for a closet. Meals from the garden sound scrumptious, but I've never gardened a day in my life. My house isn't huge but I'm not sharing one room with the whole family.
Then I read about the Little Brown Dress Project. Just, WOW.
So I'm cleaning out again and hoping for a modified simple life. One that grasps the hand of the past but embraces the change of the future.
What about you? Do you long for the simple life? Or enjoy the niceties of this age?
Yes Yes Yes, I do long for a simpler life. Isn't that the truth about how simple life was back in those days. Notice I didn't say "easy" because their lives were anything but that. Just think of the time we would have to be more creative and "involved" if we could unclutter not only our lives but our minds! Here Here to simplicity.
ReplyDeleteI often long for a simpler life, one that wasn't so cluttered full of stuff and things that have to be done. I am proud of the small garden I grow in the summer, and enjoy the benefit of the herbs, tomatoes and raspberries I've frozen all winter long. On the other hand, I don't know what I'd do without the internet...
ReplyDeleteI've lived the simple life. For two years my husband and I took care of an orphanage in Mexico. No electricity. Lamps at night. A stove to heat water for a bath in a round tub. Playing outside with the children. Guitar music at night with all the children singing until one by one they fell asleep. Water baths for children with high fevers as they lay on the floor--the only cool spot in the house. Beans and potatoes. Canned milk. It was long ago and far away.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I love civilization...but I do wish we could have kept our own children away from television and internet a little longer. And I really only wear about 10 outfits, so why do I have so many?
I need to clean out my closet.
ReplyDeleteBut mostly, I think that we live the lives we want to. If we want to simplify, we can remove things we don't want and keep the better ones. For instance, we don't have TV, and we do have a garden. We still have a TV for movies, and we have internet. I certainly wouldn't want to give up my major appliances, but I like kneading my bread dough with my own hands.
Thanks for the post, Catherine! It made me think.
YES! In fact, I'm in the process of trying to get my act together. I'm tired of being a mess. I want things to be much simpler. It starts with me, I know that. I've been cleaning out parts of my house like crazy this week. My garage sale/good will pile is growing tall!
ReplyDelete(I do this right before spring every year...let's hope this year it sticks!)