Simplicity

Sometimes I wish I lived 100 years ago. There were bad things about living in that time period, but one of the good things was simplicity. Back then people had far less choices to make then we do today. They didn't have to choose which grocery store to go to because there was only one grocery store in town. They didn't have a choose which car to buy because there were no cars. (Or very few cars.) Today our choices become infinitely complex. Take eggs for example. 100 years ago, if you wanted eggs you simply went to the local farmer or raised your own chickens. Today, if you want eggs, you have to first choose from thousands of stores or farmers. Once you choose one of those, you have to choose what kind of eggs you want - cage free, organic, white, brown, spotted, large, medium, chicken, ostrich, pheasant. Or you could have eggs sent to you from across the country. Or you could choose to raise your own chickens, which is a whole other set of choices. Maybe this doesn't seem overwhelming to some people, but to me it is. The information that is surrounding us on a constant basis these days is staggering. Internet, books, phones, t.v., ads. It all competes for our attention.

My grandpa would have been 100-years-old last Saturday. To celebrate his life, my dad held a party in his honor. There were pictures of my grandfather at the party, and what struct me was how few pictures there were. 100 years ago they didn't have the technology or the means to be taking pictures all the time like we do today. These days some people take thousands of pictures of their kids before they even turn a year old. Then you have to keep all those pictures organized and even then they start to pile up either in physical form or on the computer. Who wants the burden of so many pictures when a few portraits were sufficient in the past? I like photography, but I feel like fewer photos wouldn't be a bad thing.

I guess what I am trying to say is, try to keep life simple. Turn off the computer or t.v. more often. Take a few less photos. Meditate to help you face all that information. Always remember what is really important in life so you can focus on that. Do less. Collect memories instead of objects. I probably sound like a broken record because I have written about this before, but I don't mind being reminded, and I hope readers don't mind either. I'm happy my grandpa could remind me that simplicity is important.