This month’s theme over at Share Six is Simplicity. I actually kind of find it fitting for the current global situation.
Growing up I read lots of books set in the Victorian era. I was absolutely in love with that time period. I craved its simplicity. Obviously those days were not without the busyness of great responsibilities, nor were they without the perils of disease and death. Yet, people seemed to know how to find joy in the simple things. Maybe it’s because they had to, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think so many people today have no ability to find joy in the small things. They chase after the next greatest “toy” or the next greatest experience….never satiated for more than a few hours. Somewhere along the line, I learned that that is a recipe for disaster and unhappiness.
I thank my parents for teaching me and encouraging me to find joy in the mundane. I learned how to be content just looking out the car window. I could find joy in finding a cloud shaped like an animal. I could find joy gazing at the rolling hills passing by. I could be mesmerized by the rows of corn seemingly crawling by. I found joy listening to the beautiful songs of the birds while swinging in the swing. The warmth of the sun permeating my skin on a hot day gave me goosebumps and could make a bad day feel better. Things as simple as the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, and the echo of a loon’s call over the surface of a lake fill my soul with complete joy.
I hope to teach my children how to find joy in the simple things. Because if they know how to do that, they will have pretty happy lives. Unfortunately parents these days have a few things to contend with, and the first one is technology. I got a fortune cookie a while back and it read “Technology is the art of rearranging the world so that we don’t see it.” It really stuck with me. Now of course, I am a huge fan of technology. Photography is one of my passions. I love the amazing things and opportunities that technology has afforded us, BUT it is highly addictive. It has come to rob us of the wonderful life experiences that are right in front of our eyes. It distracts us from the incredible sights and sounds that adorn the world around us. It takes us away from the very people right in front of us. I know I am guilty of ignoring my children and husband sitting right beside me, in exchange for some “interesting” thing on my phone. Yet, what could be more interesting than the people I love so dearly?!?
The second thing parents have to contend with is busyness. We are told we need to give our children the best lives possible…that we need to produce well rounded children by enrolling them in every extracurricular activity possible. We need to set them up for success. I would argue that we are setting them up for failure by filling their schedules to the brim. We are eliminating family time. We are eliminating boredom, and we should all realize that boredom gives birth to creativity. We are teaching our children that life is all about them and their success. I’m not saying that extracurriculars are bad, goodness knows I have put my children in many extracurriculars, but if a child’s entire schedule is filled with activities for himself, what time does that leave him to learn how to care about the world around him? Instead, we are teaching them to chase the next trophy, to arrange their schedules so that they don’t have to see the world around them. If they are too busy to see the people around them, how can they help a hurting person they don’t even see?
With all that is going on right now in this world, my hope is that people will slow down and notice the world around them…that they will not only notice the world around them, but engage in it…that they will learn to enjoy it, enjoy it much more than any thing on a phone or a computer. We have been given a blessing in disguise. We have been given an incredible opportunity to get to know our kids, to get to know our neighbors. We can take this time to make an impact in their lives, which is something that is far more important than any electronic or meaningless aspiration or obsession we have set our minds to. I hope we may find the simplicity in life and embrace it.
Here are a few things of simplicity that still bring me awe and wonder. A shining water droplet, slowly growing until it is too heavy and must drop to the ground below:
The flickering flame of a candle casting the most beautiful pattern through a lacy lantern:
A stunning monarch emerging from its chrysalis. This is one wonder that never ceases to amaze me.
A crackling campfire spreading its warmth on a crisp summer evening in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, with the sorrowful call of the loon echoing over the crystalline waters.
The sunlight illuminating the leaves of a plant.
Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have enjoyed my interpretation on this month’s theme. Please head on over to Kathy Ledbetter’s blog by clicking HERE.