Maybe one has nothing to do with the other but it seems to me that as I age, I become more aware of bad news. Its everywhere. Its unavoidable. TV news shows run and re-run stories ad nauseam. Internet search engines use a ticker for the headline of the day. Even radio gives a ten second blurb of the gloom and doom. News of siblings shooting each other accidentally or weather related tragedies that claim many lives. News of kidnappings or tortures, rapes or murders. Abandoned children, abused animals... so much sadness.
There are days when I wish for simpler times, like when I was little and oblivious to world events. Yes, Vietnam was going on at that time but I was quite content playing with friends and dolls. The world didn't seem like such a bad place at that time. That worked for me. I miss the days of small towns and neighborhoods where everyone knew each other. I wish kids could play outside until dark without having to worry about being abducted. Or when leaving your windows open at night let only the cool breeze in and not a prowler.
Where is that fine line between living comfortably and living simply? Does it mean giving up electricity or the amenities that I've become so accustomed to? Could I exist on a few acres of land, growing my own food and making my own clothes? Are the times of Laura Ingalls Wilder what I long for or is there something more? What role does materialism play in the dark parts of life?
There has to be one common denominator to living a simple yet fulfilled life but what is it? How do I find it? What does it look like? Does living in oblivion necessarily bring happiness?
More on this and on being polluted by the world...
Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.
— Mark Twain
Sun setting In Cuzco, Peru
