Life Changes
The other day I was reading about a man with ALS,”Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” he was talking about the disease beginning in the legs and slowly loosing contact with his body gradually until it reached his head. His world was going to be reduced one valued part of his body at a time. First simple things like walking up a flight for stairs, them feeding himself, no more swimming in the ocean or turning your head to watch a bird as it sores. Imagine all those simple ways of participating in life coming to halt one muscle at a time over five years. You Get Thankful.
Valentin and Mary Jane Miller are making an Experiment
We have chosen simplicity for a year and what a laugh it has been already. We have one towel and that is just the introduction. 2 of everything in the kitchen: plate, fork, cup, pan and of course wine glass. We still have gadgets, stuff you cannot live without! Lost one just today though, Bamm! burned up in THE socket, water pick GONE… The fun part has been using only one socket converter, you see anything from the US has to be converted to the Greek electric socket. Out comes the computer to put in the camera charger, out comes the charger to put in the electric tooth brush, out comes the brush to put in the electric shaver, etc.
The stove and cooking is a plugin/plug out equipment ballet.
There is no garden to water, no studio or art materials to retreat to. There are no friends YET to distract us, simply Valentin and Mary Jane are staring at one anther in disbelief. WELL let me tell you! The silence between us is deafening. We have so little to talk about. We have no negotiating to do, no push/pull of I want /you want, no projects or fixing the house, no long discussions about what the hell those people are doing and why.
We sit and drink coffee by the Mediterranean in Greece, we drive a tiny car around endless curves each with a fantastic view and lounge late in the morning with not a care in the world. It is so simple we feel stupid but Very Very Free …
The great and marvelous part of Simplicity in Greece is the rest from the hustle, the ignorance of the world, the general sound of breathing uninterrupted and wondering what is identity really made of..
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