Simple

Simplicity. We all want it, or at least that's what I've heard.  There are certainly enough books written on the topic.  We long for the days when life was more simple, free of the demands of life and work and other people. 

When most of us think of simplicity, there is this pleasant image of a tire swing underneath an extremely old oak tree, a blanket spread on soft and fragrant, freshly mown grass, a picnic basket full of fried chicken right beside us.   Or maybe we think of a porch swing on a pleasantly warm day, with a grandmotherly type of person bringing us a cool glass of homemade lemonade. 

Who told us that those times were simple?  It was the person sitting on the blanket or the porch swing, wasn't it?  The person who did not wash that blanket is the one saying that life was simple "back in the day".  Of course life was simple for that person!  They didn't have to do anything--someone else did all the work!  There was another person(or more) in that 'simpler' time, standing in a hot kitchen, slicing and squeezing 400 lemons so that there would be some fresh lemonade for someone who probably didn't even say 'Thank you'.   While there wasn't television or Xbox back then, life certainly wouldn't have been considered 'simple' by the people who were living it at the time.   I suppose that each generation has to place a certain sheen of nostalgia on previous generations.  I just wish that they would get their facts straight. 

I often feel as though I am being pulled in several directions at once.  I never feel as though I have finished any tasks; I just seem to have new items added to the lists!  And then I wish that life were simpler. That isn't really what I want. What I want in those moments is for someone else to take care of everything.  Someone else to answer the phone and the emails.  Someone else to listen to complaints.  Someone else to cook the dinner.  Someone else to make some freakin' decisions, at least for 30 minutes so I can have a tiny bit of breathing room.

I also want someone to massage my tired feet at the end of the day and bring me some sort of fruity alcoholic beverage.  But that is another blog post.