Forty-some years
I’ve lived in the mountains
Ignorant of the world’s rise and fall
Warmed at night
by a stove full of pine needles
Satisfied at noon
by a bowl of wild plants
Sitting on rocks
watching clouds and empty thoughts
Patching my robe
in sunlight practicing silence
Till someone asks
why Bodhidharma came east
And I hang out my wash.
For me an average simple day looks more like that described above than the life lived by most everyone I know.
Like the life Shih-wu describes, a simple day for me is very real, and very present.
My life with Linda has been simplified about as much as it can be, although we often find ways to simplify even more.
That is because almost the entirety of what we do consists mostly of taking care of the essentials of life.
Like my friend said when she was in nursing school, "if you don't poo and pee you die".
To that I would add that if you don't eat, you die. If you don't drink water, you die. If you don't sleep, you die.
But these are often ignored in a busy, modern life lived in pursuit of things which are perpetually just out of reach, and that keep people stressing and striving.
There are many other things that if not done may not outright cause imminent death, but will hasten one's trip to the grave.
Living a low stress life, not just eating food but eating good food, physical activity, communing with nature, sitting in silence, and honouring your purpose in life are all things that add to overall health and happiness.
So many don't have time for these either, and suffer the consequences.
The practice of simple living has become our number one focus, and creative activity. Our lives have become our art.
Out in the larger world where we are happy to let things rise and fall without us, life is unfortunately based on fantasy, lies, and fakery.
In our hut on the hill, the simple and essential activities we tend to in an average day feel as real as it gets.
I think this is where I'm heading having recently becoming increasingly disengaged from the so called world. No interest in politics, career goals or buying things. I'm going out for regular long walks in nature and forage for wild food and meditate regularly. Eat simple plant foods, run and practise yoga.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the Stonehouse quote and have copy of his works by Red Pine which is nice to dip into.
Best wishes,
Alex
It is a good time to go to ground and take care of the important things in life. Sounds like you are doing just that.
DeleteRed Pine: "Every time I translate a book of poems I learn a new way of dancing." Thanks for that reference. I learned something new today because of that, and am grateful.
- Gregg
The young woman who parks her vehicle outside my kitchen window and I bumped into one another at the mailboxes in the lobby the other day. She gave me a smile and said, "Every time I come or go it seems you're in your kitchen - if I didn't know any better I'd think you were spying on me." We shared a short laugh, then I remarked that when you make a point of preparing real food, and you prepare it from scratch, it is amazing how much time that one simple life task really takes. The aroma of curry began wafting up from the bag of takeout she was carrying, so I quickly added that since I am retired now it gives me a productive way to fill my time. Strange that one should be compelled to feel almost apologetic for wanting to live simply - often makes me feel like the proverbial fish out of water, living as I do in the heart of the city.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother canning a minimum of a thousand quarts of food every year; my father in the smokehouse preserving wild game and fish - all without the luxury of electricity and running water. I recall very well the big galvanized tub - the one we also used for washing clothes and taking baths - holding (I don't remember how many) quart sealers of the next winter's food, bubbling away on the wood cookstove in the heat of mid August. Simple living is hard work. What I would give though, to be able to make what my dad called my "squinchy face" and complain about finding smoked trout on the plate with my breakfast eggs for the third time in one week once again.
Thank you for sharing this, Mela. I think anyone living simply in the land of consumer chaos is a fish out of water. But nothing to apologize for as I have found that many folks are inspired by those of us that choose to live simply. Sometimes they don't know an alternative exists.
DeleteI love the description of your early life. Wow. Not a situation the vast majority of us are familiar with. I think I would have loved being raised like that. Amazing.
Smoked trout. Yummy.
- Gregg