Simplicity - Wed., April 22, 2015

When I think of simplicity, I think of the words to Elder Joseph Brackett Jr.'s 1848 Shaker folk dance...

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Our lives used to be complicated by medium-to-large-sized homes on up to a 1/2-acre lot. These large homes with their yards required lots of upkeep: cleaning a large house, landscaping, watering, weeding, mowing the yard, putting in enough furniture along with patio and yard equipment, maintaining hot tubs, staining and reinforcing decks, painting interiors and exteriors, new siding, new windows, remodeling; the list goes on and on.

When we both lost our jobs in Hawaii due to company downsizing in 2011 and we made the decision to sell everything and buy a 5th wheel to travel, there was a huge sigh of relief. Our lives became simpler.

Is there still maintenance on a 5th wheel? Of course, but nothing like a 2,400 to 3,200 sf home. Hot water heater elements go out, black tank valve handles break (rather regularly, I might add), leaks develop, carpet needs to be shampooed or even replaced, the 5th wheel needs washing and waxing, slide seals need lubricating, rooftop air conditioning units need to be cleaned, plus all the usual: vacuuming, dusting, washing windows, doing dishes and polishing wood cupboards. I'll tell you what, though, it takes a lot less time when you're dealing with only 300 sf!

Other parts of my life are more simple now too. I was president a group of 100 medical transcriptionists for a year when I was in my 30s. In my 40s, I was co-president, then president of a Kiwanis Club (1-1/2 years). Now I am in charge of publicity for our local Volksmarch Club (much less stress than being president).

Now a simple life means having time to hang out with Bob, travel, read, bird watch, play Scrabble, visit botanic gardens, take a drive to see wildflowers, visit with friends, see movies, snuggle with my two cats, listen to music, and go to festivals.

It's not only a simpler life, it's fun and can be quite relaxing.

I'll leave you with the words to Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Life" off the "God & Guns" album, lyrics copyrighted by BMG Rights Management US, LLC, The Bicycle Music Company:

Simple Life

Hey, when was the last time
You sat down and had dinner with your kids?
Talked about what's going on in their lives?

Hey, when was the last time you just stopped
And helped somebody out?
I bet you can't remember

Well, a lot of people are saying
We're changing for the better
But that don't interest me

I like the simple life, the way it used to be
We left our doors wide open, we didn't need no key
I been around the world, seen all there is to see
I'd trade all those memories for one more day how it used to be
I like the simple life

I wanna get up Sunday morning
And go fishing with my boy
Watch the sunset, kick back in my yard

Take my Harley on a real long lazy Sunday drive
And do a little more nothing once in a while

Yeah, maybe kick my feet up
Watch a little re-run on TV
Laughing with ol' Barney, Andy, and Aunt Bee

I like the simple life, the way it used to be
We left our doors wide open, we didn't need no key
I been around the world, seen all there is to see
I'd trade all those memories for one more day how it used to be

I like the simple life

Yeah, everything's moving by so fast
I swear sometimes we just can't see
So caught up in where we're trying to get
Life as we know it could be gone in a minute

I want the simple life, the way it used to be
We left our doors wide open, didn't need no key
I been around the world, seen all there is to see
I'd trade all those memories for one more day

I like the simple life, I like the simple life
I want the simple life, yeah

Songwriters
JEFFREY STEELE, JOHNNY VAN ZANT, RICK MEDLOCKE, JOHNNY ROY VAN ZANT, GARY ROBERT ROSSINGTON