Simplicity is something I both crave and rebel against. Trying to keep up with the information overload we are subject to these days is overwhelming. I have found a few strategies to control the relentless flow of ideas and activities without being completely out of the loop.
I have tried to cut my TV viewing to just a few carefully chosen, usually informative shows that I tape so I can watch them at my convenience. I don’t have cable. Here in Toronto, the reception is pretty good with a pair of rabbit ears. I almost never watch the news, especially at night as whatever “bleeds” tends to lead and I don’t want to destroy whatever serenity I have managed to achieve. One summer I completely stopped watching television as I was too busy living and there was nothing new to watch anyway, but then I got hooked again in the autumn. I wish I had the resolve to disconnect again, for good! Even though I don’t watch that much television, I can’t help but think of how much more I could achieve with those extra few hours.
I have gotten rid of most of my magazine subscriptions and I make good use of my local library. I love to read more than anything and if I bought every book I ever read I wouldn’t be able to sit down in my house. It is amazing how you can order almost any book via the internet through our public library system here in Toronto. What a great resource! I am starting to wonder whether I should view my reading addiction as a negative addiction too, since I do spend a lot of time with my nose in a book or magazine.
Shopping for entertainment is another activity that needs to be curtailed in order to have time for what really matters – fun, family and food, in my case. In years past, I wasted a lot of time in the Mall and ended up buying a lot of junk that just clutters up the house.
As a family we have cut out a lot of the go-go entertainment we have pursued in past years – home shows, sports events, festivals, amusement parks – that sort of thing. We spend more time hanging out at home, walking to our local shopping area or the park, cooking something to eat, dancing around the living room for instance.
Fantasies of moving to the country often arise, but then I start thinking about how I would miss walking to pick up Thai food, to the library, to the fruit market, to the local coffee shops. I guess I want it all but the older I get the more I desire peace and quiet contemplation.