Sunday, October 19, 2014

The old ways

I like old things and the old ways. I should clarify that by saying, some old things and some old ways. I mean we have made some improvements on things over the years. What I was thinking about though was the good old ways. They go hand in hand with the good old days. We do tend to view the past through a filter.
I was thinking about simple things like our homes. Now back in the old days,before indoor plumbing, the upstairs of homes weren't heated. Didn't need to be. You only went up there to go to bed. No plumbing up there to freeze. The heating bill was about half of what it is today. Very efficent,don't you agree ? But then we made improvements. We can not imagine having to go downstairs to use the restroom, how inconvenient, or use a chamber pot ! OMG would that freak people out or what ? People did just that for many years.
Life was a bit slower in the old days. We had more time to enjoy each other, and to enjoy life's gifts. Going to a dance maybe two or three times in a year was an event. Well, almost anything out of the ordinary was an event for us back then. Going to the movies or drive-in theater. Going out to eat, anywhere. Our circle was much smaller and so we were more familiar with each other. And we were more forgiving as a result. When your choices are smaller, you are less discriminating ! Just a simple fact.
Now there have been improvements. Typing on this keyboard is a lot easier than using a typewriter. Mistakes are quickly and efficiently corrected. No wasting paper either. The correction of our spelling is a big help. I would much rather receive a handwritten letter than a typed one though. And e-mail just seems so businesslike. E-mail is cold. So writing letters is an old fashioned thing that I think should be encouraged. Probably won't happen though. Printing and email are much faster and more efficient,
I don't know, I just think the old days and old ways were a bit more personal. The speed at which we travel today blurs things a bit. We don't really get the chance to observe and enjoy. No, we must move ever forward, racing toward what ? To a time when we can do what ? Whatever we feel like doing ? Is that the real goal here ? Maybe the real goal should be to just enjoy life as it presents itself. It is not all entertainment, all the time. If that is what you aspire to, I fear you will be disappointed. Everything worth having is worth working for. Remember that old adage ? That's one of those old ways I am talking about. It is not about the cost of the thing. If you only work so you can afford, you are missing the point. No matter how much you earn you can not retire from life. And life requires compromise. You don't get to just do whatever you like. That's another of those old ways that was understood in the old days. Would do us all good to review them, I believe.  

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