Simplicity

Sitting on a sandy beach, facing the ocean, wearing nothing but my swim trunks and a squint from the bright sunshine, I listen to the ocean gently pound the shoreline with wave after wave after wave. The sand slowly wears away, and the sea takes in the salt and minerals from the land. The sea and the sand blend in this way.

Living creatures, on the other hand, resist such erosion. Being alive means that we remain integrated, not disintegrated like the sand and the surf. We stay together. We maintain our self. We fight against the disintegrating properties of nature in this way, because we are life forms and that is what we do. All life forms resist disintegration, only to yield to it finally upon death.

And all the things that living creatures construct, from ants hills to bee hives to skyscrapers, are of this same nature. We gather and fashion and construct and fight the forces of nature that want to breakdown and deconstruct. And once we are finished with our work, we step away. But nature is always there, trying to break down our objects, to return them to sand and salt.

And so it is with our own life, and with all the things that we make, and with all the things made by others that we acquire and care for and try to keep from decomposing. We fight the constant waves of nature, trying to keep our stuff intact and in proper working order. We build our sand castles by the sea. Then we dig our moats to protect them. Then we watch and worry and repair as best we can, always knowing that the ocean will wash it all away when we retire for the evening.

There were times in my life when I owned many things. Some were big and expensive like a house. Others were small. Some were useful. Others were intended to give me pleasure just by their mere presence. But I could never figure out how to just enjoy my multitude of things without worrying about all the maintenance. So I'm trying a different approach now. I'm trying not to own things. And I've never felt so relaxed.

I'm sitting on a sandy beach now, facing the ocean, wearing nothing but my swim trunks and a squint from the bright sunshine. And there's not a sand castle in sight.