The Rewards of Living Simply: Enjoy the season

Every year, as the Spring Equinox approaches, a sort of renewal flows through me: I want to spend more time with friends, creative pursuits, the garden and its denizens, the sun and the moon. I want to enjoy, to its fullest, this brief and beautiful season.

In the not-too-distant past, I couldn't enjoy the Spring as I would have liked. Workplace demands required me to work inside a building until after sunset, and I had neither time nor energy to share with my friends. When my doctor had diagnosed chronic fatigue syndrome, she advised me to slow down. What about money? Now there will never be enough, I thought.

ENTER: LIVING SIMPLY

The only sane response (for me) was to recognize that it was time to put into practice a concept about which I had read, and which I had pondered frequently - living simply. Put aside those ideas about a bigger house, a luxury car, and other unnecessary material objects. I would just have to work fewer hours and accommodate my spending habits accordingly.

For me, these changes did not feel like sacrifice. The real sacrifice had occurred much earlier in life, when I had decided to pursue those things that eventually led to the chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis. The real sacrifice had involved giving up simple pleasures and treasures - such as friendships, reading, writing, needlework, gardening, enjoying the passing seasons, and watching animals - that had once been central to my being.

Once I started upon the path to living simply, I found that I could reclaim what I had sacrificed. Those things that had once fed my spirit would again become a part of my life.

SIMPLE PLEASURES BLOOM

This Spring I have seen the wildflowers bloom in the upper Sonoran desert. February and March rains have caused a riot among the poppies, owl clover, desert blue bells, penstemon, brittle bush, desert fairy duster, desert lupine, ocotillo, and desert verbena. The fresh-rain scent of creosote permeates the desert air. Cardinals strike poses amidst the red-flowered ocotillo. Bevies of Gambel's quail, with their quaint little topknots, run across pathways. I have been able to walk in the desert and watch all these plant and animal beings blossom with Spring. This has been one of my greatest pleasures - a reward for my efforts to simplify my life.

My Santa Fe style home sits in a desert oasis. Hummingbirds visit frequently, and some nest here. Most spend the winter here. A pair of mallards, near the pond, seem to be interested in producing ducklings this year. I have the pleasure of feeding and watching the hummers and the ducks every morning and every evening. These simple pleasures feed my soul as nothing else can - another reward.

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