When I was growing up, it seems like we had an inordinate number of storms that would knock the power out on our street. I was lucky to have an older sister who remained nonplussed at something that I would have found a little scary without her.
Without fail, my mother would say to us, as she would go about collecting flashlights and lighting candles, “Look girls! Now we are just like Laura Ingalls!”
Admittedly, Little House on the Prairie was a hit in our home. Maybe it was the cute little calico dresses or Nellie Olsen’s perfectly coiled curls that were so attractive to us. (I have so much more to say about life lessons learned from Little House but I am going muzzle myself for the moment…)
But what I think, truly, that was so attractive about that life was just how contented the Ingalls family seemed. Not just with their little house, but with their family relationships, with their lot in life, simple as it was. Yes, Hollywood. Also: life goals.
There was a sense of wonderment which took hold, if even for only a few minutes, as I considered what it would look and feel like to live differently.
What was fun for an hour on a stormy night was not how I wanted to live my life. However, whether to humor Mother, or because there was a genuine excitement about stepping outside of our usual routine and way of life, my sister and I would play along.
As I have grown up, that sense of wonderment has become a bit of an undercurrent. I don’t really want to live without electricity or without a car. But…what if?
When my husband and I met in 1997, neither of us had a television. We have been married since 1999 and never did get one. We have managed thus far to raise two little boys without one. That one unintentional decision set us on a path to intentionally do things a little bit differently than other people.
We don’t live just like Laura Ingalls, but I am constantly looking for ways to live more simply and with greater satisfaction.
This blog is going to follow my journey towards contentment.
Sing With Your Feet 