Naturally Independent

What is the most natural state? Some people would say relaxed. Yup, there’s a lot to be said about lying on a warm beach without a care in the world. Other people would say creativity is the most natural state. Yes, when we create we are reaching for our natural potential, there’s no doubt it. There are people who would say that being safe and secure is our natural state. Again, safety, warmth, and security are essential to life, especially a comfortable life that’s worth living. However, there is a state of being that is more important than any of these other states. In fact, it is essential that this state exists before any of the other states are possible. What is this state? It is independence.

Everything that exists naturally exists in a state of independence.

Freedom to grow, to move, to pursue sustenance are all non-negotiable pre-requisites to a full and healthy existence. What happens if you take a plant from its native soil and transplant it in different soil under different conditions? Will that plant thrive? The answer is a resounding no. It will not thrive. Instead, it will wither away and die. What happens when you take an animal from its natural habitat and confine it? Is that animal complete and whole? Is that animal happy? Again, the answer is no. We have all been to zoos and seen miserable animals in enclosures too small for their natural needs. They lie morosely or they pace endlessly from one wall of their cell to the other. It is not life for them, but rather a living death.

The same thing holds true for our species. We are naturally independent. We evolved in an environment where we lived by our wits and our instincts. We were at one with this environment because the choices of how we spent our time were entirely ours. Of course, we were driven by our physical needs to seek food, water, and shelter. However, we filled those needs as the opportunity arose and as we saw fit.

Today, we are prisoners of our own cleverness. The simple tools that we first made to help us survive have evolved into an elaborate web of technology that ostensibly exists to make our collective lives easier. These technologies have made our lives easier, but they have come with a price. They have removed us from our natural state and have made us dependent upon them. In short, they have robbed us of our natural ability to be self-reliant.

I think the most important tools I use today are all technology related. I use my cell phone, laptop, and the Internet for most of my professional work and a lot of my personal business. I think many of us would be lost without our cell phones.

At home, I only use the dishwasher sporadically and believe it takes me more time to load and unload the washer than it would to just quickly hand wash them. I enjoy using my television, listening to music with Alexa, and having my floors vacuumed by my programmed machine. When I'm in the kitchen, I use the Insta Pot, blender, and food processor to save time, but at what cost?

As I write this series of posts, I'm longing for the Slow Food Movement I discovered in Italy, and I'm reminiscing about the simple life of the Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago. What experiences am I trading for the convenience of technology?

How about you? What would you miss if you were to give it up? Let us know on the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ahousewithfourrooms

Cheers!

Lisa