Enjoying the moments

Anniversary - Dallas Arboretum
Flowers at the Dallas Arboretum

Sorry my posts have lacked in originality as of late… getting moved and unpacked has taken up much of my focus and inspiration as of late.

The whole moving process reminds me that I still have a LOT of stuff — and a lot more decluttering needs to be done. It’s amazing to realize how our things can have such a tight grip on us.

I was talking with a friend last night about our homes and how they’ve changed over the last 50 years.

We were saying how amazing it is that our grandparents had homes half the size of ours (or maybe even smaller) and had plenty of room for their stuff and the entire family.

And if they were to put our sectional in their living room, it would fill up more than half the space. You’d be challenged to get from one room to the other.

So not only do we seem to have more stuff — but it’s gotten bigger to boot!

Yet we continue to pile more and more stuff on top of the things we already have.
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Why we enjoy nostalgia

In a post I wrote for We Live Simply yesterday, I was reminded of this column I wrote for The Belton Journal in August 2004. I got a little nostalgic and decided to repost it (with a couple updates) for those who may have missed it.

WWE Wrestlers
Photo by greggocnnell

I’ve noticed something about today’s culture — for many, there’s a strange sense that “back in the day” things used to be different, things used to be better, things used to be amazing.

Back in the day we didn’t have socialist presidents, we didn’t have kids zoned out playing their Nintendo DS’s, we didn’t have teenagers so caught up in text messaging that they don’t know how to talk to their parents at the dinner table.

And with these memories, we’ve begun a never ending search for a better yesterday. A time when the flowers bloomed a bit brighter, the summers were cooler, our skin had less wrinkles, our waistlines were half the size they are now and gas was less than $1 a gallon.
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