Never been a flower-arranging person but here I am
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to live simply. This came to me because over time I've realized more and more that I am not an ambitious person. To some extent I always knew this about me, but I didn't really know what it meant. When I think about how 'un-ambitious' I am, I immediately go to the fact that I don't really have any dreams. There's nothing I can think of that I would want to achieve before I die; in other words, if I die tomorrow, that's okay and I wouldn't look back and think, "Should have done that." This is odd to be honest, considering the fact that I have a 1-year-old. There must be a lot I want to do, right? A lot I want to experience, achieve, or accomplish before I die? But no - I genuinely have no issues with dying tomorrow.
The more I think about it, the more I'm seeing how I find goals and dreams unsatisfying. Instead, I much prefer living a simple, honest life. I've come to this 'simple, honest' description because the life I find fulfilling isn't really anything outside of simple and honest. I find that setting goals and dreams, for me, means 'negative space'; the process doesn't motivate me, as it might others. Let's illustrate - today while I was arranging flowers, I thought to myself:
I have never been a flower-arranging type of person. I would never think to take this up as an ongoing activity, let alone a hobby. This isn't something I would set as a goal, or work towards. But look at me here and now - cutting stems, tidying up the leafy bits, changing the water, and essentially arranging. Whatever that means. To me that just means making it all look nice. And how did I get here? Just by doing it, weekly since April. This is unintentional, simple, and honest.
And I've had this thought about everything from cleaning our bathroom, to washing baby bottles, to changing diapers, to carrying Maya (I can now hold her like a purse). I've concluded that the best way for me to live is to just do things I need to do, with whatever effort feels right, and keep going, simply and honestly. In this there's no 'negative space'; I feel like I'm building. To what? Not sure - but that's the point. I like the mystery. We'll see.
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