(an excerpt from my upcoming book, Yearning for Simplicity. The book is a derivative work of the 1905 book, “The Simple Life”, by Charles Wagner.)
Nothing is simple any more. Birth, even dying is complex. From morning till night, and everything in-between. We “need” the latest toothbrush that is battery powered, rotating, oscillating, vibrating sonically, and by bedtime, we need to take a pill in so we get a restful sleep, although, you should know, there are some side effects, such as dizziness, frequent urination, excessive snoring, blurred vision, oh, and do not take if you are pregnant or nursing or might become pregnant and don’t operate machinery while taking this new wonder drug! Ask your doctor. You bet.
Why do we make everything so complex? Is it just the way life is? No, I do not accept that. But, before we start blaming ourselves, I do not think it is good to add to negative thinking. The reality is, it just happens. It’s our nature to struggle in life. The reason is this; we humans need struggle, we need a reason to get up in the morning. Struggle is good, it gets the heart pumping and the mind working. We love a good struggle and it is good for us. We human beings are, by nature, goal oriented and ambitious. (Well, any of you with a teenager camped out on your couch may disagree about the ambitious part but I’m speaking generally, and besides, cheer up, almost all eventually move out and become self-sufficient!) Anyway, I think it is human nature to complicate, sometimes we reject things being too easy and too simple. We seek complexity.
Look at what we claim as our material needs as the best example of how we have made our lives terribly complex. Granted, our needs have grown with our ability to satisfy them, and growth is not a bad thing in and of itself, to want decent housing, sanitation, healthy food, nice clothes, reliable transportation, a good education, and entertainment which enriches us. To want these things is a sign of a healthy civilization. But whereas these things are good and certain needs exist by right, others, like parasites, live at our expense. We “need” a newer car, a bigger house, in a better neighborhood so our kids can go to a better school so they can get into a decent college. We look for a better job so we can make more money and gain freedom from being chained to a desk so we can go on vacation somewhere and still we should start saving for retirement more, yet now family roles are reversed and we have to care for our parents. All this responsibility requires money and there is never enough! It engrosses us! We are aware that this seems a false way to go through life, yet, what can we do? If you think the question, “What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and how shall we be clothed?” is asked only by the poor, just look at those who are becoming rich. With the poor this question is simple, natural, and understandable, but the question takes on a peculiar sickness of frivolity the higher up the income ladder one climbs. The truth of human nature is that the more we have, the more we want. The more assured we are of tomorrow, the more we are absorbed by it, our needs multiply in number and in nuance. It is a complex mental state, best compared to the petulance of a spoiled child, both satisfied and discontented at the same time.