Monday, November 15, 2010

The Simple Life

The Simple Life they call it. Where you breathe fresh air, and drink pure water. Where you grind your own spices, and drink milk from your own lifestock. Where the vegetables are fresh, and grown without fertilizers. Where you don't own a TV, nor are connected to the Internet. Where the wind whispers secrets into your ear and you talk to nature. When you think deep thoughts, and write great books.

The Simple Life is one you aspire to; hope to attain 'someday'. But what if that is the only life you ever had? The only life you can afford?


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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.
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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rayna - Very thought-provoking Drabble as always. It is so easy to romanticise a lifestyle if one doesn't have to live it. Your well-taken point is one reason for which I so admire people who are truly grateful for what they have.

Jan Morrison said...

Wonderful drabble! Yes, I was telling someone yesterday that simplicity as a lifestyle has to mean being awake NOT buying a magazine called Simple Living. EEEK! And it isn't 'simple' to live in poverty - it is mean.

Saumya said...

So true :) Sometimes simple living IS more simple than we realize. I love how you bring up the point that a simple life is the only option for some people!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Simple, perhaps. Easy, no. This drabble is really thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing.

LTM said...

great, great post. I love this because you're right. We want life to be simpler, but how serious are we about this really?

Balance~ :o) <3 U

Karen Jones Gowen said...

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. If our lives are complicated and crazy, we want to simplify, and if things are too slow, basic and down to earth, we yearn for the bright lights of the city. I guess it's just human nature!

Unknown said...

Very interesting perspective you pose with this "simple life." I have difficulty imagining living at that scale of poverty.

Brilliant post!

Deb and Barbara said...

You make me think... What if it's your only way? I'll be mulling this question over for a while. Thanks, Rayna!

B
The Middle Ages

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Doesn't sound so simple now, does it? Sounds like a hard life.

Southpaw said...

So true. To live it every day would be hard.

PK HREZO said...

Sometimes I wish I had a simpler life, but then if it was all there was I'm sure I'd long for something else.
To me, my idea of vacation is places where I can live a simpler life. No internet, no phones, living off the earth. It purifies the soul.

Cricket McRae said...

Wonderful drabble. It's so easy to romanticize a way of life when you don't have to live it and only incorporate certain, convenient pieces.
Hearth Cricket

Danette said...

There is, however, a distinction between living in sheer poverty and living a life of simplicity that includes intellectual pursuit. Most often poverty does not include intellectual pursuit because people who live in abject poverty cannot afford books and are are often not adequately educated as Rayna has so eloquently reminded us here. The mind must at least be fed. Thanks for the wonderful post Rayna!

Oddyoddyo13 said...

You have a very good point. How can it be the simple life, though, when it's all you've ever known? Wouldn't it just be life then?

Unknown said...

Sometimes I long for a simple life. I pack way to much stress into mine. What a beautiful picture.

CD

Jemi Fraser said...

I've always been grateful I live where I do. The discrenpancies in the lifestyles of people around the world is incredible and discouraging.

Grandpa said...

Apart for the TV bit, that's how I'm living my life now, by choice. I left the city to make the tropical rainforest my home, without water and electricity in the first few years. I find it all worth it, with the peace and health benefits it brings.

It's not too difficult for me as I lived in that same condition for most part of my childhood.

Natasha said...

@ Margot- as I keep telling my kids. Don't compare with those who have more, compare with those who have less.

@ Jan- so true. And poverty is not simple, it is sad.

@ Saumya- I would love to decomplicate my life, but their lives is not simple. It is HARD.

@ Tricia- absolutely.

@ Karen- that would be really great, for a few days. For me unplugging for a few days would also be hard, but I guess I can do it.

@ Leigh- not very serious, I know.

@ KarenG- absolutely. But for those people to want things like electricity is a basic need, not greed.

@ Chary- to be honest, it is hard for me to comprehend it too.

@ Barbara- I would hate it to be the only way.

@ Alex- very hard.

@ Holly- I would not be able to do it.

@ Pk Hrezo- I would love to unplug if only to see if I can do it. But then, I love other creature comforts too much.

@ Cricket- so true.

@ Danette- you've nailed it. The mind needs to be fed.

@ Oddyoddyo13- absolutely.

@ Clarissa- me too. But I am not sure I will be able to simplify for too long.

@ Jemi- it can be really stark sometimes, can't it?

@ Grandpa- I have to salute you. I may think it is something I want to do, but I am sure I never will.

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