And Be A Simple Kind of Man......

Try and keep a dry eye through this, I dare you.....

I need to start this post with a story of one of my resounding emotional breakdowns. To provide context for this story, I am not a crier and never have been. I accredit this personality trait to my mother who did a mighty fine job of reminding me she could "give me something worth crying over."  I am not taking pride in this, but it’s just part of who I am. The following story is a break from my dry eyed norm. I had just returned from a 2 year stint in the great country of Chile and was in my parent’s basement watching the Lynyrd Skynyrd Free Bird documentary, and then it happened. At the end of the Movie, once they had talked about the plane crash that took the lives of half the band, they rolled the credits with "Simple Man" playing to home movies of the band. I lost it and cried enough to more than make up for my childhood and adolescent dry spell. To this day, my wife reminds me, and gives me grief that I did not cry when we got married, nor when we had our children, but that I lost my marbles over the Lynyrd Skynyrd Documentary. Once again, I do not pride myself on this being healthy or a good thing.

So if you are listening to the above tear jerking melody, you may have picked up on the drift of living a simple kind of life. There is a joy and an art to simplicity that is complicated to grasp because of what society would deem as success. Spartan living is not what I am trying to advocate in this post; rather instead of looking outside your walls for fulfillment, take a moment to look within.

A Taco could possibly be the most delicious, yet simplistic cuisine known to hit the soft pallet of mankind. Think about it, tortilla, meat, little cheese and of course Cholula hot sauce (if you have not chased this dragon, I highly recommend your taste buds dance with this mistress of the southwest). There is a reason Taco Tuesday finds a place in my home. The interesting thing about a taco is, the more you try to over complicate it, the worse it tastes. Life seems to be the same way. Personal satisfaction and overall happiness is not a complicated formula. That being said, as an evolving species we seem to have done a mighty fine job of creating the entangled illusion that happiness, contentment, and overall satisfaction can only be achieved by climbing the social and professional rungs of an endless ladder.  Ronnie Van Zant had it right when he so eloquently stated, "take your time don't live to fast, and be a simple kind of man."

As a tribe striking forth to justify the F word; let’s all slow down this week and enjoy a summer night, take a walk, hang out with friends, maybe even cry a little (and try Cholula on anything from pizza to Mexican food).

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