Simplicity is not Normality

Simplicity is no longer the norm in modern day America I'm afraid. In fact, it could be easily said that the more "simple" we try to make our lives the more complicated those very "simple" devices make our lives. For example, just the other day I saw this commercial for a hands free electric can opener! Remarkable! We can now open cans without the mess of having to hold them. The problem is... you have to have batteries! Everything today requires batteries! At least gaming companies got smart and have now started making our handheld rechargeable. I bet my dad spent a fortune in AA batteries for my game-boys as a kid. Which I still am by the way... I still have the latest in Nintendo gaming devices.

I read a book the other day that was basically set after civilization as we know it was destroyed. None of the survivors knew how to make anything! Think about it.. if every person who could build a car were to suddenly disappear where would that leave us? Would we be smart enough to figure out how to develop another car? What about electricity? We would no longer be able to switch on a light switch and I have no clue how to make candles or what goes in homemade wax so how would I light a candle? Even if I had a candle what if there were no matches? Every activity in my life is controlled by something that I personally have no control over! This computer is a device that I couldn't make! So if everyone who knew how this blasted thing worked died then I would have no computer! AGHHH! See how very complicated our simple lives are??

Furthermore...
I don't know how to build a fire by hand, nor do I know the complexities of indoor plumbing. I couldn't milk a cow without first getting mowed over first because I've never done it. I've never made dough from scratch without first having the necessary ingredients there. The more I think about it the more I realize how very little I really know. I couldn't build a snare for food since I've never done that sort of thing.. and no matter how badly you think of me right now while you're reading this there is this one point I would like to make. How simple are our lives? We have pre-made everything! I can go to the store and buy cookies that I just plop on a sheet and stick in the oven... where is the memory making in that???!!! OH look grandma I made these homemade for you.. all I did was buy them pre-made and pop them in the oven for about twenty minutes... where's the true giving spirit if it's really not that much to give?
Gifts that have little time spent on them mean little to you as the giver.... Sigh...
I'm just so tired of all the simple things really not being that simple.... I can't even speak Latin, French or German fluently.. that used to be something that was normal... now that's like a gift if you can speak more than one language....

Simplicity... is it really present in our lives today? Normality surely isn't... it can't be normal to spend half of our time running from one place to the next and only accomplishing minuscule amounts of tasks. I know that being in college surely has changed my view on how I spend my time.. those uh... observations have yet to be put into practice in my home life. Yet, I endeavor... will I ever achieve simplicity? Probably not until I either die or retire...