My great grandmother Iris experienced childhood during the Great Depression and the rest of her 70 + years in rural Idaho. In her high school yearbook, each senior was able to leave a quote next to their picture, describing themselves or their motto on life. Iris’ quote read: “The simple life, that’s for me.”
I don’t think I fell too far from that branch of the family tree. Sometimes I feel like I live in the wrong century. As much as I love my ipod and those machines that wash dishes or clothes with hardly an effort on my part, I’m often quite put off by the world in which we live. Thanks to modern convenience, technology and time-saving strategies, I can honestly say that I probably accomplished more “tasks” in the last month than cute little Iris did in an entire year. Don’t get me wrong – she was a hard worker. Are you kidding me? Depression era….a life of farming….taking care of horses, home and family. She did it all…for those times. And this is my point. Why does modern life require so much “to do”? You see it everywhere. Here’s a recent thought clip from my drive into work the other day: “Ok, where to start today….personal life – what needs to be done today? Errands: get the kids some spring shoes to go with their Easter dresses for Sunday, need to go to Walmart and stock up on cleaning supplies so I can actually clean my house with something other than vinegar, have to take those checks to the bank, Costco, dry cleaners – no wait, the clothes won’t be ready until Thursday and I forgot to throw the new batch in the car before I left - , grocery store – but first I should make a list so I don’t buy too many things I don’t need like I did last time - oh I should’ve made a list last night – but last night I went to the gym instead because I haven’t exercised in 2 whole days and so I decided to do that instead of prepare for today and then when I got home from the gym I had to shower and then it was already 11:30 pm and I forced myself to go to bed so that I could wake up this morning and try to be a decent mother to my children and get them to school on time and myself to work reasonably awake and prepared to actually do my job, which reminds me, I forgot to call so and so and I really need to write that grant by Friday because if I don’t, then I’m not doing what I said I would do and you CAN’T under any circumstances do that - oh but save that thought for when I get to work… where was I? Oh yeah, errands – ok, scrap the grocery store, I’ll do that tomorrow, after I’ve allocated some time to think about what to actually buy at the store, because I know I need groceries, because there’s never anything to eat – oh yeah, don’t forget to go to the post office and pick up the package that the mailman DIDN’T leave on the doorstep – now where did I put that slip – oh I need to organize that drawer so that I have a place to put things like package slips – ok, post office, what about Easter? It’s in 4 days and I have nothing. I need to dig out the Easter stuff from the garage – I can’t believe I haven’t done that yet….when’s my next holiday? I for sure am going to work on the garage that day, whenever it is – that garage is so disorganized and it drives me crazy that I can’t ever find anything. Maybe I’ll start on Saturday. No, I should work on my primary stuff on Saturday – that has priority right now. Oh yeah, I also need to run to Michael’s so I can get more paper for the bulletin board and I need to update the rosters and send them out to everyone – I can’t believe I haven’t done that yet. I should do that tonight when I get home. No, I should work on Isabel’s speech words tonight – that for sure takes priority over everything else. She has therapy tomorrow and we haven’t even gone over her words since Monday. We HAVE to be on time for therapy tomorrow or Miss Kim will kill us! I for sure need to go to bed early tonight so I can wake up a little earlier tomorrow to make sure we’re on time. Oh shoot – Kennedy’s speech is in two days and she hasn’t even worked on it yet! OK, there’s no way I’ll make it to Costco tonight – what’s the bear minimum I HAVE to do for errands so I can get home and still have enough time to work on the speech? Maybe I’ll just take the girls with me and we’ll just stop at McDonald’s for dinner, eat in the car and I’ll help Kennedy write her speech while we’re driving. What were my errands again?”
That’s probably about 30 seconds worth of thoughts or what I call the subconscious taskmaster that we’ve all been trained to experience on a daily basis. You get the idea. This is our life. Not “my” life – the 21st Century life. And it bites. At least I think it does. I DON’T LIKE IT! IT’S NOT FUN! I don’t ENJOY this! Believe me, I’m all about working hard – there is great satisfaction to getting in your bed at the end of the day and knowing you earned your keep. But sometimes I just want to carry a banner that says, “SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!” Everything in our modern life is so demanding. If you’re not organized, then something is wrong with you. If you make a mistake, something is wrong with your ability to balance your life. If you say, “I’m sorry, I don’t have time to do that,” it’s not acceptable. How can you not have time? You have email right and spell check, right? In today’s day and age, there should be no excuse. No excuse? No excuse for what? Living life in the slow lane? That’s it. There’s no excuse for living your life in the slow lane. There’s no excuse for living a “simple” life. It’s just not acceptable. That’s 21st Century life.
Which brings me to my new motto and mantra: “I’m not lazy, I just don’t care.” I saw this on some kid’s t-shirt the other day and it was the validation I needed. Now, unfortunately, the penning of the term comes from some anti-American punk band and is being touted as a horrible attitude pervading the minds of our youth, which I can definitely see – but I assure any layperson watching this channel – I do not condone it in this context. I interpreted it in a completely different way. Let’s all hold hands and just relax a little, shall we? Imagine a cute little purple haired woman brushing the mane of her horse. Nowhere to be. Roast beef in the oven, cooking slowly. No errands to run or Walmarts to visit. The house is simple. Not a lot of money, but no real need for it anyway. Nowadays, you don’t survive if this is your life. Or if you do, you’re hanging by a thread or mocked in a Paris Hilton television show or even counted amongst the “poverty stricken” demographic of the US census. And don’t even get me started on poverty in our country (I’ll save that soapbox for another day when I feel like using my blog to complain again). That’s the 21st century life. Complex. Busy. Chaotic. Demanding. Never enough of anything. What I wouldn’t give to be able to say, “The simple life, that’s for me,” and actually be “allowed” to live that way.
I’m not lazy. I just don’t care about the 21st century life! (That’s my context.)
I think my Grandma Iris lived in a great era. I’m certain there were many perilous and difficult times…but she got through them and then lived on to experience the modern world prior to the mess it has turned into now. Somewhere in between then and now, there had to have been at least a moment of healthy balance. In 100 years, we’ve gone from one extreme to the other. By the time all was said and done though, I’m pretty sure Iris enjoyed her simple life.
My sweet little Isabel’s middle name is Iris. Maybe the namesake will instill in her the ability to keep life simple and take time to actually enjoy it.
**Mental update: I went for a nice long run tonight - it's amazing the difference some good tunes and exercise can make for one's mental state. As a result, I'm feeling much better now. Sorry for any negativity caused by the day's complaints. **
