Simple Men
“There may not be a lot of things I’m good at in this world,” Jason said after cutting down a tree, stripping it of its limbs and sectioning it miraculously quick. “But cutting down trees is one of them. I love it.”
Jason is one of those guys that surprises me every time he says something. Men aren’t supposed to share their feelings and show any signs of weakness, and Jason is subject to all those social pressures. On top of all that, he’s a true Vermonter, and New Englanders are notoriously reserved. But, his curiosity, sense of humor and openness peel away to reveal the core of who he is.
We, in America, want to be superstars, rocket scientist, pro basketball players… Our professions are our lives. We live in this extreme realm of reality where there is little room for normalcy nor calm.
Simplicity is something I’m seeking in life. I heard a young kid sing the Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Simple Man” at a festival today and it made the tiny hairs on my arms and shoulders rise.
“Be a simple kind of man
Be a something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won’t you do this for me son if you can
Forget your lust for the rich man’s gold
All that you need now is in your soul
And you can do this if you try
All that I want from you my son is to be satisfied”
People like Jason remind me to be a simple kind of man.
If you’re out there reading this Jason, thanks for letting me crash on your couch, thanks for letting me follow you around the woods, and thanks for being you.
simple man….love it
lyrics to live by right there
July 27th, 2008 at 9:33 amSo strange this world has become a place where we have to actually think about living a simple life again. And that its actually become hard, to live a simple life . Simplicity, not sure if it will ever be possible again with thousands of things asking for attention every day. How to organize this in your head?
Jim, we, in Europe and I am sure everywhere else, want to be superstars also. TV show Idols (American Idol in your country) let us know this so clearly. Just no pro-basketball players, it has to be pro-soccer. It is sad people are judged on and get proud from their jobs or single talent they might have.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:14 pmI would love to hear from any of you out there. How would you simplify your life if you could? What would you get rid of to make life easier? Let me rephrase this, what do you think you could get rid of in life that might lower the amount of stress and make you a happier person?
July 28th, 2008 at 5:31 pmTo simplify my life, I would go on a “Fight Club”-like rampage and destroy all computers in my path. I know I am using one right now to write this message, but I would much prefer to handwrite this message on a nice piece of stationary (or better yet, tell you in person!). Computers have cluttered my life. I stare at one for nine hours of my work day and then there is the additional time with school work and blog posts like this one. I have found that the five senses have turned into one–the sense of the new age called “virtual.” I miss SMELLing the aroma of a home-cooked lunch or FEELing something other than plastic keys or HEARing the birds outside or TASTEing something other than downed cups of coffee to keep me awake or SEEing a world without blue screens.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:28 amI know this statement is melodramatic, perhaps a bit Orwellian in nature, but computers have become the bane and “virtual” beauty of my existence.
I think the computer is a great invention. I can choose my own stuff, organize, rather than just have information come in that i did not ask for on the streets, in stores or TV. This non-information has to be stored somewhere and making my head a mess since this stuff pops up in my mind for no reason… Wish I had the power to get rid of the giant screens that marketing people call narrow casting. But can always switch of my own.
I guess you do mean simplify in the more traditional way, and not the more practical way. I would not like to switch from chopping my food with a knife to a food processor…
How do u get rid of social pressure?
July 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pmI forgot to mention that TV can be cool at times. Watched a documentary on the Nenets in northern Russia tonight who migrate a distance of 500 kms with thousands of reindeer each year. Nomads. Talking about simple life. Sleds, their animals, food, keeping themselves warm and setting up their tents. All they have to worry about.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:40 pmThe simple life where did it go?
August 29th, 2008 at 9:00 pmIm sure that you all have not lived it and neither have I.
My parents didn’t live it working in factories 9to5 most of there life. Only to get old so now they can live some what of a simple life.To sit back and watch the garden grow.Then to stress out about health care ect. I sure wish that I had the answer.