Everyone is asleep.
Once more the house is quiet.
It has been a full day, but a good day. We have been to a local fair, had faces painted and eaten hot pizza slices right out of an oven shaped like a camel. We have been to the local school to watch 4 dads break a Guinness world record – playing almost 50 hours straight of doubles tennis. There were bouncy castles, lots of friends, food and drinks, and a wonderful community spirit.
And here I sit in the semi dark, winding down and musing. Thinking of my marriage, modern life, my parents’ marriage, their life demands.
- Was life lived a little more simple and more slowly a generation ago?
- Could a return to living more simply soften the blow of modern life?
- Could a return to slow living help us to regain or repair some authentic connection with those we love, at least in part?
- What the world will hold for my children when it comes time for them to be independent and forge their own unions?
Without a doubt, putting down our phones helps us to live more in the present. Living in the present is what life is about. Really listening to someone, making eye contact, exchanging ideas. Should this be the legacy I try to leave my children – how to connect with fellow human beings?
The older I get, the more I realize how fleeting life is. We have such a short time on Earth. Yet for me it is only at about the halfway mark that I have started to realize this. And this has brought into focus that which is important to me; my family, friends, and the beauty around us.
My reading about Minimalism certainly is helping. It is becoming easier for me to prioritise where to spend my energy and time. It his becoming simpler to set boundaries. Easier to say no to invitations and commitments.
The spotlight shines with greater clarity on my children and their childhood and creating memories and magic. It shines on meaningful conversations with good people, authenticity, the beauty that surrounds us. To create a life filled with more of what matters, and less of what doesn’t, sounds like a good thing.
But then why do we battle with attaining the life we truly want?
I came cross a recent post on one of my most-read Minimalism blogs – No Sidebar. It is titled What’s Keeping You from the Life You Want? and is worth a read. I love this extract from the article;
“I picked up comparison and wielded it as a weapon in a war against myself, because I didn’t feel I deserved to live in agreement with who my soul was telling me I am.”
And also this one from an article on No Sidebar titled A Diet of Distraction: Simplifying to Find Balance.
“Distracted living is the epidemic of this generation. It’s also the antithesis of simple living. Simple living is the undistracted life – the intentional life.”
Food for thought, and action.
