Friday, August 11, 2006

Was Life Really that Simple?

Bear with me cause this entry has a lot of random details…but there is a point, I promise.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I’m not a huge fan of children. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few in this world that I adore, but in general, children just aren’t my thing. This detail is important for you to know if you’re going to find this entry remotely interesting. It’s because of children I remembered how important the simple things in life are.

In the past few weeks I’ve had two random encounters with children…and when I say children I mean a group of ten or more. The other day, my friend Lindsey and I were running errands on campus and were using my office’s golf cart. We parked the cart outside the Campus Center, went in, did what we came to do and walked back outside. Now, the day we were running errands just happened to be a day when the university was having one of their kid day camps, so the campus was buzzing with kids of all ages. As we walked out of the CC, we noticed a group of first year campers…we’re talking a group of five year olds…little bitty things. And as we walked towards the golf cart, we noticed a little girl sitting in the back seat. As I got closer I said, “Do you want a ride?” She quickly ran away. But, as I started up the cart and began to drive off, she ran up to the cart and said, “I DO want a ride!!!” So, this little bitty girl with blonde hair jumped into the back seat and took about a 30 second ride with me and Lindsey around the mall area. Little did I know I had opened up a can of worms! As I pulled the cart back to the Campus Center to let the little girl off, another little girl came running up to the cart. She was probably one of the cutest kids I had ever seen. She was TINY, with brown pig tails with pink bows in each one, little round glasses, little camouflage capris and a pink shirt. She rushed up to me, pulled on my shirt and said “Can I have a ride?” How could I say no?

Within seconds, we were bombarded with five year old girls climbing onto the seats. One of their troop leaders got on with us, held the little girl with glasses in her lap, and we drove off. I made this ride a little longer…we took a longer route around campus. So, for the next two minutes I heard nothing but five year old voices screaming “yay”, “wow”, “faster”, and “ahhhhhh” at the top of their lungs. When I say screaming, I mean a high pitch squeal that only dogs can hear. It was hilarious! Lindsey and I were laughing so hard! These little girls thought that riding the golf cart for two minutes on the campus sidewalks was the coolest thing ever. So simple. Something I do everyday gave these kids such a thrill. Why can’t everything in life be that simple? Why don’t the little things thrill us anymore? A golf cart ride? So fun.

My second encounter with children came just this week. I was at church Wednesday night standing outside just waiting around and I caught myself watching a group of kids playing some silly game in the grass…running around, carefree, not a thing bothering them. In the 10 minutes that I was standing outside I got a text message, a phone call and a calendar reminder of a meeting I had the next morning. I suddenly became envious of the kids playing outside. They had no cell phone in their hand, no palm pilot attached to their hip. They weren’t worried about an alarm going off to remind them of a meeting. They weren’t concerned about receiving a phone call. They weren’t waiting for a reply from a text message. They were simply engulfed in laughter, the simplicity of a summer Wednesday night after church.

Do you remember those times? Before computers were your gateway to the world. Before cell phones, palm pilots, text messages, MySpace, Facebook, blogs, etc. ruled the majority of your time spent awake. Do you remember when you didn’t have a cell phone? When you couldn’t be reached? When people just couldn’t find you? When you weren’t 100% accessible? I do. I sometimes miss those times.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my cell phone as much as the next person…probably a little bit more. I love the convenience of high speed internet and text messages. I love being able to stalk people on MySpace and Facebook. Maybe not stalk, but “keep in touch with.” But, I sometimes long for the simple way things used to be. Do you think you could go away to a somewhat secluded area for a week without a television, cell phone or computer? Afraid you might miss something? Afraid someone might need you? Afraid you might need someone? Can you believe that people use to not worry about things like that? People actually took trips, drove cars, and went to work without cell phones. It’s definitely a different world. I’m a fan of technology and today’s modern conveniences. I’m just also a fan of simplicity. I’m a fan of the random, simple, fun times like riding around in a golf cart with ten squealing little five year olds…pig tails and all!

3 comments:

DeeDee Price said...

When Brandon and I went on our honeymoon we turned off on his cell phone once a day, did not watch any television, and refused to cruise the internet the entire time. It wasn't neccesarily planned, but it was an awesome time. I loved the freedom of not answering the phone (I am normally on-call 24/7), not knowing the latest terrorism plot, etc. Unfortunately, it could not last, but I do understand that longing to not be always available, and have to worry about what we are missing whne we are not!

Good job Jules turning off your phone... I think that getting away is very important, and even if there was an emergency, they can always leave a message.

FeedingYourMind said...

Not to long ago I did a little experiment of keeping myself off AIM for several days. I was successful. AIM would easily be my "technology" of choice.

It is interesting how technology is taking over our lives. At first the internet in general was the big craze. I mean you could have valuable information ready at your fingertips!! Now the internet has gotten so much more involved and absorbing! Like you said, look at all the people sucked into facebook, weblogs, myspace, AIM, email, etc. Now instead of just a way to get information about topics, it is a way to stay connected and reconnect with friends and family anywhere in the world!

It's like you said, how sometimes the simple just isn't good enough for us anymore. The more we can get outta the internet the better.

The more gadgets we can get our hands on, the more valuable we become, it seems. The simple life just isn't easily found anymore.

Maybe one day we'll look back on this and think, "are you kiddin' me??! Blackberrys and Facebook was 'cool' and 'in' back then?!?!" But until then, we'll just continue to write our entries on our weblogs and text message our thoughts to our friends, without taking time out to stop and air up our bicycle tires and take a leisurely ride or to stop and smell wildflowers before just stepping on them in our rush off to the next errand.

Relish in the day! That's what we all need to work on doing!

Good post, buddy!

Anonymous said...

great thoughts, jenn!!

it is a bit sad to think of how much technology plays a role in my everyday life. wow...

...and it's funny to think of how much we will spend to have these "conveniences" available to us only to become dependent on them.

i thought my time in Ireland might help me get back to more simplicity.

...i found out yesterday they're supplying me with a cell phone...

blessings to you, my friend. i'll be keeping in touch using whatever technology i can, i'm sure.