I'm thinking about simplicity today. Not in the usual way--truth be told, the whole "live simply" thing drives me a bit bananas. I've spent most of my adult life looking for excitement. Exciting things are rarely simple, and I don't buy for a second the idea that organized closets really make us all that happy. Sure, we can find things easily when they're folded and labeled (we're selling our condo right now and have unexpected showings all the time, so I'm test-driving a pared-down and organized world that would make Julie Morgenstern proud) but how much does that really matter if we don't have interesting, captivating things to do, work on, fret or dream about? I think deep down, I like things complex.
And yet in small doses, I get the simple pleasure idea. I think yesterday's Barry Manilow post was part of that. But it can't be the whole thing--I mean, Mr. Manilow probably has a complex and interesting life, he doesn't just sit by the window all day singing "Mandy" or "Two Ships that Passed in the Night," right?
Not sure what my point is here, but that's today's deep thought of eternal significance :)
Maybe someday if I start a magazine, I'll call it Real Complex. (Although now that I see it in writing, that looks like something for people recovering from their inner child wounds. Never mind...)
Are you simple or complex? Do you like it?
8 comments:
Wow...I've always thought of myself as a simple gal (I mean, traveling with two guys in a van for months on end means I need to keep things pretty pared down). And I'm always fighting my natural busy tendency, daydreaming that a life where I can just hang out at home for an evening (or a whole week!) sounds really great! But, now that you've raised the question, I realize I do need to have something driving me though...something complex going on in my life that has me feeling really satisfied. This can be a job, goals, dreams, hobbies, something though... Have a great day!
I'm complex to the nth degree. I seem to remember a scene from "The Way We Were" where Katie describes herself in some poetic, striking, meaninful way as "complex"....clearly, I need to watch that movie again.
I also need a younger version of Robert Redford.
Ahem.
xox
Hm, complicated - but shock me with simple and I'll love it!
I complicate simplicity. I laughed at your post because I was shopping for closet organizers yesterday, I started off excited about it, spent three hours on it, & then got frustrated & didn't buy anything.
I know that I can be a bit complex, but what makes me worry is how that complexity affects others. I question myself all the time...am I too much for other people?
I definitely need complexity, but I'm also finding simple moments can give birth to complexity. Something simple like inviting a friend over for tea seems so simple and ordinary to me. And I remember a time when things were just too stirred up to do such simple things. But, then this simple and ordinary thing turns into something rich and beautiful. But, I really don't like when things feel flat and don't have depth. This seriously freaks me out! I think my biggest fear would be living a life with no depth. One of my mentor's once said, "hell is having depth and losing it".
Complex is defined in Cambridge's on-line dictionary as having many parts or bad feeling. Examples are: guilt complex, inferiority complex, persecution complex, superiority complex. Simple however is defined as: plain, easy, one part, foolish. Examples are: simple interest, simple-minded, pure and simple.
Sometimes I think I can seem pretty complex to others and hard to understand with a lot of things going on in my life, but I am also a pretty plain and simple kind of person as well.
I like both. And I think of myself as simple. But you probably know me better as someone standing on the outside. Am I simple? I have no clue.
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