HONESTY MONTH: DAY 19: “The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” ― Laura Ingalls Wilder
The most perfect world would look like this. Real things…honesty and truth; gratitude and simplicity; courage. What a beautiful way of life.
In my internal world, I am all of these things. I like the old-fashioned ideas of simplicity of life. I love the natural world far more than anything man-made. While technology and all its trappings can be life-enhancing, I am happy to live very simply when I can.
I love the idea of being a pioneer woman, which is, of course, what Laura Ingalls Wilder represents. It is the idea that we forge a life from the bare bones of the natural world around us that has a great deal of appeal for me.
The simple values of a life well-lived are also appealing. Honor and integrity, faith and hope, loyalty, and all the things that are true treasures in any life.
I want to always live as close to these values as I can. I am easily distracted by the world, I have learned, over the years. I have an enormous ego and can let it lead me into all kinds of things that do not feed my spirit or my wild heart.
I loved being a hippie, when we were, as a counter-culture, dedicated to peace and love and letting go of those social anxieties that were created around Madison Avenue hype and false values around money and capitalistic pursuits in the world around us. Power and greed ruled the world in that time, and it felt like (at least to me) that we were embarking on a journey back to simplicity and abolishing those man-made pursuits.
It changed me forever. Many of the people I knew then returned to the pursuits of money, property and prestige. I have dabbled from time to time and created substantial wealth and let it go and then created it again, only to let life take it away on a couple of occasions. Truth is, I never have been comfortable with the maintenance of that lifestyle. I know how to do it, but it is not in my heart. It is not inherently a comfortable way for me to live.
Inventories have brought me closer all the time to where my heart is. I eliminate a lot of the worldly in the process of healing my pain and fear of the world. My armor is lessened, and my life becomes smaller all the time. I love this process!
Dolphin Hug 