April 23, 2007

Dusty

One thing that always struck me about my Costa Rican family was how clean they kept their house. Now I don't mean scrubbed with clorox, I just mean squeaky clean and with very little dust. They didn't have much, but what little they did have they cherished: the beat-up soccer ball, the family car, the weedwacker, the television, the dining room table - everything was taken care of and used to its max. It's sad, but this way of life was pretty new to me. What's even more sad is I forgot about that for a pretty long time.

I say I want simplicity, but I hardly ever follow through. I love one blanket, so I buy two more. I love my soccer ball, but I get another. Why? Mostly because I can. Or maybe because I feel like the more I have the better. I know that isn't true, (actually the more I have the more unhappy I get usually) but for some reason I believe it any way. Instead it would be nice, I think, for me to have so few things in my house that dust hardly gathered on any of it. It's certainly possible, my Costa Rican family did it and I saw it week after week. I want that kind of simplicity. Now it's time for the follow through.