I haven't always been someone who can slow down enough to appreciate doing things the plain and simple way. Throughout much of my life, I've perhaps sometimes often consistently overcomplicated things more than I've needed to. I think most people, at least in western cultures, do this, but Americans in particular are famous for it. This is why we feel we need to live to work rather than work to live. We don't seem to embrace the idea of keeping things plain and simple; instead we think the more we pile on, the more valuable and important we become. It's downright sad, if you ask me.
That's the plain and simple truth.
Traveling has taught me that there are different ways to live, and that the rush-rush-rush of the uber-busy American lifestyle isn't always best, not all the time at least. When you're so busy you can't stop to notice your own life and whether or not you're even happy with that life, then that's a problem. When you're so busy being busy that slowing down feels painful, that's also a problem.
Plain and simple.
Being in France, I'm learning to notice that there are ways to balance being productive (rather than being busy for busy's sake) with enjoying the plain and simple things. Take café-sitting for example: whether you're alone or with friends, sitting in a café while watching people walk by is endlessly fascinating. I don't take a book or my laptop when I do this, and I don't listen to my iPod; I just enjoy my coffee or my salad and fresh bread, and watch whatever is passing by at the time. Then I can go back to my work feeling energized and refreshed, the better for having taken the time to relax and just BE. It's not always about the "doing".
The plain and simple stuff is growing on me.
While on my recent short holiday to Provence, I loved just being able to sit and read a novel in the late afternoon on the terrace, periodically stopping to enjoy the wonderful view down into the valley below. The view didn't change, but it never got old.
Things can be plain and simple, and still be interesting.
So now that I'm another year older and hopefully a whole lot wiser, I see that the quality of my life is more important to me than how much I'm packing into it. I'm redefining what is meaningful to me, and what I consider worthwhile and interesting. I'm choosing things differently and seeing the world differently.
And plain and simple is looking pretty darned good.
