On Simplicity: A Piggy-Back Post Off Another's Piggy-Backed Post

I probably shouldn't mention that the following (not all) was originally intended as a blog comment. However, I get a little embarrassed when I overtake someone's post by writing a "book" on theirs, so I decided it would be better to post this on my own blog.

In a recent post Heidi @ Minnesota Mom referenced this post regarding simple living and how several in this society have seemed to redefine simplicity as something that doesn't feel all that simple anymore.

Sure, the "olden days" are often referenced as simpler times, and in many ways it was. Lack of media, advanced technology, and ready transportation probably accounted for most of it. But every day tasks were anything but simple! Hey, I love my washer and dryer and have no desire whatsoever to start using a wash board to do laundry. Especially my hubby's pit-stained T-shirts - are you kidding me?!

Of course, people aren't going to such an extreme, but a recent trend for many homemakers has turned towards sewing one's own clothes, planting lavish gardens for canning, baking from-scratch bread, etc. All of these projects save money and for the most part, enhance quality (though I suppose it depends on skill level!). Yet while I dearly love to make homemade bread on certain occasions, most of the time I happily purchase store-bought loaves. Nothing retains a status of special anymore when everything must be placed into the homemade or perfect category. I make boxed brownies more often than homemade, though I enjoy homemade much more. But then when I do make homemade, somehow they taste even better.

Some women today are feeling the pressure to do everything themselves, myself not exempt. I have not tried making my own laundry detergent or multi-purpose cleaner before, although the thought keeps nagging at me that I should. Why not? But time is money, and the generic stuff we use seems to take the stains out just fine, albeit with more chemicals. Perhaps one day I'll feel like trying my hand at the homemade stuff, but right now that would just make life more hectic.

I can't tell you how much pressure I get to scrapbook. Yes I am creative and yes I have made one scrapbook and a few other scrapping projects in the past. But I have seen too many women become consumed and/or overwhelmed by the never ending project. Not to mention the outrageous cost of all the materials! Hobbies are supposed to be stress relieving and leisurely, not pressured and burdensome.

And most recently, since I've mentioned the pregnancy, people have begun advising me to start scrapping the baby book now. I still haven't decided if there will even be a baby book. Who ever looks at those things anyway? And when the baby (and future kids) come along, I will only have less time to even think about scrapbooking, yet it will forever hang over my head if I start now. Why torture myself?

I think a lot of women start scrapping and then because they have invested all this time and money into it they feel guilty if ever they plainly gave it up. Or guilty that the second and third child will feel cheated because big brother or sister got this elaborate memory book and they didn't. Plus, isn't recounting events and memories a reason I blog in the first place? I would rather write a story about my child than arrange pictures of him/her on a page.

I recall this time last year when a lot of my friends declared they had decided to sew or knit all of their Christmas gifts. Talk about a money saver! Inexpensive yet love-invested gifts that mail for just ounces! I grew a little envious because I had just learned to crochet, yet there was no way I'd be able to work up a project for everybody on my list, and certainly not in time for Christmas! Then December rolled around, and my friends began to sound anxious as they furiously worked on their presents, it seemed, at every free second of the day and night. To me it sounded like simplicity turned quickly into nightmare!

In a perfect world with no distractions or interruptions, homemade everything sounds so much more valuable and wholesome, doesn't it? But to hang an inflexible deadline over your head and say, "I must do this!" just doesn't sound very gracious to self nor others who must then deal with our hurried pursuits.

I like small projects that have a clear beginning and an end. I don't want to fear taking pictures just because I don't want to have to add them to the "to scrap" list. Ha! But if I get the itch to scrapbook I will perhaps, as I have before, scrap my Christmas cards. But I think this year we'll just purchase them. :)

I'm sure some women can and do scrap without the pressure, but I know myself. I mostly think on a smaller scale. I'll paint a room, I'll crochet a hat (but not 20!), I'll make freezer jam instead of stove top. Easy, quick, over and done with. To me that is homemade simplicity.