For years, I have been fascinated by the Amish. After watching a 2 hour special on PBS about them recently, I now am more entranced than ever. My kids live on opposite coasts and the only way I can see them for an extended period of time is to move near one of them parttime, as in renting an apartment. This is both costly and inconvenient, but do I want to be with my kids? Absolutely! So this is what it takes to make that come true.
The Amish, on the other hand, never leave their families! They live and work in the same communities for generations. They prohibit the use of telephones in their homes (altho they can use public phones), because they feel that if they could talk to others on the phone, then they wouldn't make the effort to see them in person. And the reason they don't allow themselves to drive (altho they can drive in others' cars) is because they could then get jobs that might take them away from their families and communities. Their whole way of being centers around the church, cooperation and looking out for one another. There is no competition, no desire to have a bigger house or a bigger buggy than their neighbor, no me, me, me!
Do I want to be Amish and live without modern conveniences? T0 be only thought of as part of a group and not admired or valued for who I am as an individual? To have no choice but to work on the family farm? Of course not! But I do find myself frequently wishing we could go back to simpler times, when we weren't always rushing to get somewhere or to accomplish something, when we just sat out on our front porches with our families and neighbors and took life in, one breath at a time. No multi tasking. No social media.
Our world was a more intimate place, and we were always with the ones we loved and cared about most. Day after day, night after night. Now, I am making plans to get that apartment in a new city, making other plans to travel to a different city to be with relatives for the upcoming holiday, making more plans to take care of my elderly parents in yet, another city...........yes, the Amish are probably looking at OUR way of life and thinking that we are the ones who are strange!
And I just might have to agree with them!
You've cried at weddings, right? At the birth of a baby? And, of course, you've probably cried at funerals, but have you ever stopped to wonder why both happy and sad events, make you so emotional? Even worse, do you often feel like you're the only one? I will impart wisdom gleaned from professional conferences, seminars, books and articles and/or I will blog my personal thoughts. Either way, I hope you check in often, so you know that your tears are never shed in a vacuum!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Ms. Baby Boomer-dang
- Dallas, TX, United States
- I am an educator and consultant, in the field of loss and grief. I love educating others, as well as learning from them, about life's little and big, happy and sad losses: marriage, divorce, moving away, losing one's health, aging gracefully.....or not......death of a loved one, a pet, a dream, children growing up and parents having to let go, etc. etc. Hopefully, you get the picture. Let's laugh, cry and learn together!
Posts
yes and count me as grateful that we are moving closer to that Amish model once you arrive near me in NYC! cant wait!
ReplyDelete