Simple?

Why is it that as the component processes of life are isolated and made simple, the overall process of living is made fucking complex?

A brother from church told me over breakfast yesterday morning after Good Friday's do that we as worshipers of the white man's God, must practise the simple life. And I'm like, how in the name of everything holy do we even start to embrace simplicity in a world that has grown fucking complex and 'consumeristic', as one brother puts it, in every ar ea of life?

I try my very best to live as simple as I could but would I be living that simple life if I do not indulge in them St Michael cotton shirts, Levi's and the likes while buying my stuff that falls within the average price range? And what if I keep on upgrading my laptop or phone to include the latest shit in tech savvy-ness because I think its necessary for my work and living in this day and age, would I still qualify as someone who lives simply?

What if I sleep on a hand me down big ass bed (like most of my t shirts) while not very far away from my house, migrant workers sleep on bunk beds with only thin pieces of cardboard for a mattress, six sometimes eight to a room that is probably the size of my bath room?

Then I thought, the white man's God I worship who flung stars into space and who created the infinite variety of life, colours, smells, music and beauty - is he a God who embraces simplicity and who calls worshipers/servants/sons like me to do likewise? I don't know. I didn't ask the brothers I had breakfast with.

When I was in college I remember telling myself that if I graduated and found a job, I was never going to allow my happiness to be dependent on a fat salary (the white men God that I worship actually made that a reality) but that was easy then, undoubtedly helped along by a big dose of youthful idealism. It's difficult now. That's the reality. It was easier to remain contented when all my friends were moving around in motor bikes or the mini bus but within a few years of graduation all them bastards upgraded to cars and I realised then it was easy to feel left behind.

I guess the pinch lies not in feeling deprived materially but lies in the fear of failure, of being stuck in a job with fucked up salary topped with little, if not virtually no prospects, while my friends are getting enviable promotions, fat salary increases along with attractive perks and shit. From where I'm at, their future looks like a brightly lit path marked with promises of more of everything the fucking world can give.

Okay. I got a game plan. It's simple.

I'm just going to go back to my village and be a farmer. I'll learn to be a farmer.

Fuck, it!!! My parents are retired and are now farmers and living the simple life. I'm going to force them to teach me how. They won't do the song and dance when they learn of this but they'll understand.

I'll go when I touch 55.