Thursday, April 17, 2008

So much to say...

Been thinking about a lot of things today. First of all, my glorious day:
Woke at 9:45am to a perfectly quiet house as Len had taken the babe downtown to pick up the building permit. I ate breakfast, showered, had a cup of tea on the deck and got in an hour and a half of gardening before they returned at 12:30pm. All I have to say about this morning is that my husband rocks! I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and I got a heck of a lot of garden work done instead of eeking it out in little ten minute increments. Thanks Len, you're my hero! Then I headed out for my moms group for the afternoon and spent two lovely hours talking babies and work and such while eating greek confectionaries and drinking creamed earl grey tea. Delish!

So with all of that gardening time and walking time today, I got to thinking. There's all of this talk on cbc and on tv lately about simplifying your life, getting back to basics, etc. Tonight while giving the babe her final nightime feed, Oprah was on showing how people had scaled back. All of these people were all pleased with themselves that they had given up buying so many $1,000 shoes, were taking their lunches to work and making an occasional dinner at home, and had reduced their tv watching to an hour a day. This was all in the name of simplifying and finding happiness.

This got me wondering if I'm a complete freak or what? I have a hard time buying shoes that cost $150, buying lunch is something that I save as a once a month treat and dinner out is an OCCASION. I'm not saying this to say "woe is me, my life is so hard". What I'm saying is, I've already done all of these things and I still feel like life is pretty complex. When you've already scaled back your life as much as possible and tried not to "keep up with the joneses", what do you do next to find the much desired simplicity and happiness.

So, 'cause I'm nothin' if not a fixer, here's my list of how I'm continuing to simplify my life.
1) gardening, only when I want to,only when it's sunny and I feel like it, not cause I have to
2) reading my book on the front deck watching the foot traffic returning from work lives and feeling a little smug that for the time being, I am not
3) doing a little work for pay, here and there, because it feeds my soul and doesn't hurt the pocketbook
4) walking, always been a way to find clarity for me, always will be.
5) nuzzling the neck of my clean baby after her bath
6)cuddling up to my husband in the middle of the night
7) talking to my family, because I like them

That's my thoughts today on happiness and simplicity. Here's hoping that you find yours.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're doing great and have already attained a level of simplicity. If you want to take it to the next step, check out 'Your Money or Your Life'(a book/program). I'm working my way through it along with a group of friends for extra support.

Kendra said...

Hmm, good thought Gretel. I'll check it out.

Anonymous said...

I hear ya! I also NEVER buy my lunch, never buy clothes or shoes that I don't need, cook dinner almost every night, buy almost everything only after weeks of careful research etc. I do drive my car...but then I live in the boondocks. We bought this house to help us simplify- no more expenseive summer holidays- just our lakefront home and a beer! Last summer we went NOWHERE!

Kendra said...

Now if you would just simplify your cat away Kristen, I could come and hang out at your lakeside retreat! I'm kidding, don't kill the cat! :)