"Virtually" Living My Life Away

Sometimes I feel like the internet/facebook/texting/anything done with some kind of technical equipment have taken over my life.

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is read the news online, then I check emails from work, check facebook and my day seems to cycle around all these things. I shop/window shop online (or would it be called screen shopping?), I read online, I learn online, I get recipes online, I keep track of my exercising online, well... you get the point.

When I was a little girl, my family moved to a little German town in the southern part of Chile. Technically, we weren't in the town, we were actually several miles from town. As a matter of fact in the area that we lived, we were the first house to be built. And it wasn't just any house, it was a log house. We were surrounded by nature as far as the eye could see and this is what I saw every day from home:

Needless to say, our life was simple and somewhat isolated. We did have a TV, which was black and white but we probably got 3 to 4 channels at the most. I think we had a phone but I don't really remember using it. The simplicity of our life was a most wonderful thing.

All the time I wish that I could go back to those simple days, when we could go for a boysenberry-picking-trip and would come back with buckets full of the wonderful dark fruit which my mother would turn in to jam. It would then in turn accompany her homemade bread. I wish I could still ride my bike any time of the day without being afraid. I wish I could go play on the hills next to our home where little calves would lay and where we found the first bird's nest full of eggs I had even seen.

I was surrounded by white daisy's and blue skies

Thinking about what my life used to be has helped me remember I still love "the simple life." I'm not into traveling the world (even though I have lived in different countries but it was all work related), I'd rather play in my own backyard. When it comes to homes, I'd rather have a small house in a large piece of land. I'd rather only check my email at work because I have to (I wish I didn't have to). I'd rather have a pic-nic than go to a nationally acclaimed restaurant that serves fancy food. I'd rather read a book than watch a movie. I'd rather make my food from scratch. I'd rather have few possessions and peace of mind than have credit card debt and so many things I don't even know where to put them.

It is difficult finding that balance. There are some things which are necessary to live in this world. But I will always prefer the simple life.