Yesterday, I got to do something that I haven’t done is quite a long time. Part of the simple pleasures in life from a much simpler time- before being all grown up became the overriding priority in life. I got to take a leisurely walk in the soft drizzling rain, eating an apple; and for a while- without a care in the world. Whatever the day has in store- “bring it on!”, I said.
It made me think of all the other things in life that we’ve taken for granted, or left behind, or thought we’re supposedly gotten over the phase. How life got more complicated the more we push ourselves away from the simple things. As a kid, we didn’t need television, fancy gadgets, or for some folks- real friends, to have good fun. We made do with what we had and didn’t worry about what we didn’t.
When we started work and were getting paid measly salaries, we seemed to have had the time of our lives still. Certainly it was better than during our cash-strapped student days, which if I recall correctly, we still managed to greatly enjoy (the social part more than the studying, at least, for me). So why now, with fatter wages and bigger titles, do we seem to have suddenly carry an invisible burden on our shoulders? That the little things in life don’t smell as sweet as before?
I’d rather think that far from these small wonders becoming less pleasurable, we’ve actually downgraded them in significance and relevance. We’ve convinced ourselves, that perhaps, with our new stature and maturity in life, we need- no, deserve, bigger and better things to sate ourselves. But do we really?
I’ve grown to re-learn, by watching and playing with my kids, the old truth. That we really don’t need that much to get by, or to have fun. Give them pen and paper, and they’ll surprise me with what they can come up with- pictures, stories, abstract art even, if I dare to claim it such 
And that’s not the end of it- it’ll turn into airplanes, or boats or hats, or cannon balls, or paper mached into something else. How is it that to us adults, most times we see it as just waste paper… garbage? And that’s just with paper!
Have you ever came by the situation where the box of the gift you bought got as much, or sometimes even more, play time than the toy itself? Perhaps our lack of imagination now that we’ve ‘grown up’ is the reason behind much of the things we see as hurdles or problems in our lives. We’ve failed to exercise the creativity that served us so well when we were younger. To let anything, no matter how big or small, get in the way. There’s always something to make out of it.
Which brings us back to the beginning of the story. Rather than let the complexities and frustrations of office politics get the better of me, the simple walk in the rain freed up my constraints and horizons. “Bring in on!” I said, and I’ll deal with it one way or another, and perhaps have a little glee while I’m at it. Suddenly, the small, simple little things in life, don’t seem as absurd anymore. There’s fun to be had rolling up your sleeves and turning a mess into something else. That day didn’t turn out badly at all; and with some more tinkering, maybe the great play may yet come out of all this madness. Whatever comes my way, I’m fully intending to have fun going about it. Watch out boys and girls, this phoenix is coming back to life…
