Do you?

Do you yearn for the simple life?

The Mr. and I went camping over the weekend, and on the way home, I saw a farm house with a clothesline full of clothes drying in the breeze. The scene made me feel peaceful. Kind of like the memories of my great grandparent's ranch. Life seemed to move at a slower pace there. Dinners were always home made. People actually interacted with each other instead of plugging into their electronic devices. Life was peaceful.

Back to the clothesline. Someone had to take the time to hang those clothes. Did they have a "regular" washing machine? I know my great grandma used to wash clothes by hand. I've decided that part of me longs for a simpler life. I love that my 5-year-old looks forward to going out and gathering eggs (two chickens are laying now, and one is even using the nesting box!). I love being able to walk him to school. I love days when we are not rushing around trying to be everywhere we are supposed to be. I like simplicity.

I also am grateful for my washer and dryer. I have a drying rack that I use for some things, and I would like to get some retractable clotheslines to hang in the laundry room, it would be nice if I could avoid using the dryer in the summer (except for towels...line dried towels are too crunchy) but the washer and the dryer are both conveniences that I am grateful for.

I'm grateful for air conditioning and forced air heating that keep me at a reasonable temperature without any effort on my part.

The simple life would be a lot more work. Even taking care of the chickens is extra work. We have to keep them fed and watered and cleaned up after. Just think of what a cow and some goats would add. If we really had to work for every little comfort, we'd be working all day long. As it is, here I am sitting in a comfortable chair playing on the internet.

The Mr. and I talked about how with so many conveniences available with so little work, we get in the mindset of feeling like we never really have to work hard. That mind set causes me to waste time instead of getting the work I do actually need to do done.

What I have decided, is that it takes a balance. There's nothing wrong with sitting and typing a post for my blog, or emailing my friends, but if I sit at the computer all day long it leads to an unpleasant cycle where nothing gets done, the house gets messy, and I feel bad about myself for being a lazy slob.

You (or I) can't let all the conveniences we have living in the age that we do keep us from working hard.

Nothing feels better than sitting down to waste some time knowing that the house is clean and there really isn't anything else that you SHOULD be doing just then.

I read a quote somewhere that said "an immaculate house is a sign of a wasted life". I think that's just silly. A house doesn't need to be immaculate, but I think people use that quote as an excuse for their pig sty decor. The quote should be "a clean home is a sign of good time management" or something like that.

Now that school has started and we are back on a regular schedule and vacations are over, my goal is to manage my time better, so that the simple life that I am trying to create for myself can be a happy one. I can feel good about myself because I know that I can really enjoy what I am doing at any given time rather than worry about what I ought to be doing.