What does it mean to say “a simpler life?”  Well, my main point of reference has always been my elders, especially my parents and grandparents.  They grew up and lived through two World Wars and the Great Depression, and yet, they had a perspective that wove resilience and gratitude into the fabric of of their lives.  They somehow were able to find joy in the simple things.  Those things were a roof over their heads and food on the table.  These were the backbone of mere survival, and yet they found joy in them.

Expectations were simply to get through the hard times.  The thread that ran through daily life had to do with how thankful they were for those things.  Ordinary activities, like playing in the street with kids on the block, was the daily amusement they shared.  There was no television, few, if any toys and no money to spend on their fun.  Fun was found in the camaraderie of the people who shared the neighborhood.  As my mother said to me, “We didn’t know we were poor.  We were all in the same boat.”  She did not feel “deprived.”

There’s a huge difference in the way children grow up today.  Consumerism and the disparity of wealth has caused many rifts in the ability to relate with our peers.  Bullying has risen exponentially as a result of the underlying animosity between different groups of people.  It is so extensive, in part, because of the fact that “things” and money have become more important to us as a society.  

That is not to say that this was not true before, but the extent with which we are consumed by the acquisition and use of “stuff” has made people separate from each other, into their possessions.  And it is complicated.  There is nothing simple about the attachment children and adults have with inanimate objects today.

I do not have any answers for what I see to be a difficult problem in our society.  And I realize that I have not even adequately described it here.  But I find myself yearning for ”a simpler life,” even if I have no idea what it would look like in today’s society.  At this point I would just be happy to have an honest conversation about this with others who share this longing for simplicity in our collective lives.  Is anyone interested?