Simplicity seems to be a buzz word for the last few year in Christian and secular circles. There is now the magazine Real Simple, which is anything but, and there are tips to keeping the excess down, but the thing most people in the USA don´t recognize is that it is a choice. There is an option to not have so much, which means they already have more than they need. It is a conscious act to live with less.
It has been a great reminder for me to live outside the states. I don´t even live in an area with rampant poverty as in some parts of the world, but still have some of the same issues that pose a challenge, and it´s not optional.
I have been trying to get used to the intermittent disappearance of water, cable tv, electricity. These things, and thankfully not on the same day, are just gone. Last week 3 days in a row we did not have water from 330 pm to 6am the next morning. You really have to make alternate plans for washing laundry, using the bathroom, taking a shower, washing dishes. Same thing with electricity. I like it though, at least the cable and electricity. It reminds me to live even more simply. I pick up a book, take a walk or a nap or just find something else to do that doesn´t involve these modern conveniences. I mean if this happened in the states I´d be calling someone, somewhere to do something. This is not acceptable that these services don´t constantly function. Yet, here it is a normal part of life and something that is just a minor annoyance.
It´s like learning patience at a doctor´s office. You sit and read the magazines becuase there is nothing else to do. Of course you would not do this if you didn´t have to wait, but haven´t you caught yourself saying to yourself, ¨wait, i´m not quite done with this article. can´t you wait to call me in.¨Maybe it´s just me, but I like these times when we are forced to do something we wouldn´t normally do that is actually good for us.
So, I am learning a new sense of simiplicity. Part II soon to come.
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