Saturday, February 19, 2011

Life These Days

Nostalgia, the simple life, heritage, authenticity and ideas about the past seem to be the innovative ideas these days. Reality tv wasn't real enough,  and now the quest for all things "real" has begun. From holistic medicine to backyard chicken coops, to  home cooking and family values. The western world seems to be looking for roots.

All of a sudden I'm seeing the value in a baker pounding dough day in, day out. I feel like our society has become so evolved - that there's nothing real to do anymore.  I for one have had me mind in an international, cross industry, innovation state of mind. What about the planets, the dinosaurs, the Mayans, and the trees and the plants that used to live where I'm standing?  I can only speak for myself, but they are all things I learned about in elementary school and haven 't put much thought towards since.

 What if doing less, helps more? Maybe moving slower, producing less, making less money, enjoying the moment and consuming less could actually bring more satisfaction in my life and also be better for humanity? hmm.

3 comments:

  1. Good reflexion for a blog "à la mode". Perhaps you should travel more and give your way of life. Asia or Africa seem the best destinations for you and you're always welcome in France as you know!

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  2. Sounds like a call for the simplicity movement; Simplifying makes sense, its true. And there is too much unnecessary craziness. We can easily consume less and have enough, as you say, and that would definitely be better, and more sensible, in some ways...

    Two issues though, come to my mind, one about gender and one about class: often "simplifying" means more work for women: Its women who pound the bread all day, so its not "simpler" for them to sew clothes, make home cooked meals all the time, etc etc. Also, getting the simple life is not that simple for many people; In the US, low income workers have to work 3 jobs to make ends meet because of low pay. Thats just to get "the simple things" - food, housing, etc (they are not sending kids to GRE camp and all the other craziness of middle class US families). I think its similar for many Canadian families, though at least they have health care covered. And that's just in rich countries.

    (as an aside, the gal pictured above needs more, not less- too skinny!)

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  3. Thank you for the reflection. It feels good to stop the world from spinning out of control, to enjoy the moment and value what we have today. It feels good to look down from the balcony and watch the dance rather than being in it all the time. Lovely blog!

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