I recently went kayaking with one of my friends, paddling out to a little island and exploring the grounds. It was a beautiful night—perfect temperature, picture-like sunset, quiet and calm. We roamed the island, I lounged in a hammock, he took pictures with a camera significantly better than an iPhone. Sometimes we were talking, sometimes we weren’t. It was one of the most serene nights I’ve had in a while. He brought up how not many girls would have liked that sort of thing. How they would probably say, “is this it?” Although the question wasn’t for me, I responded by saying, “YES, this is it. Soak it up.”
I’m not here to say I’m one of those girls that’s “different,” I’m here to ask why so many people, gender aside, are unimpressed and underwhelmed with their life.
How could anyone not have enjoyed that night? That scenery? It baffles me to know that someone could be where I was and feel nothing but dissatisfaction. How have people gotten to the point where something that doesn’t involve a lot of action or people or technology isn’t worth their time? Maybe it’s because in this day and age, there’s always something more. More to eat, more you can do on your phone, more to buy, etc. When we’re surrounded by something so simple, I think it immediately becomes a question of what to do or what’s next.
Spoiler alert: sometimes there isn’t more. Suggestion: enjoy it.
Being in a world where there’s something to look at or listen to with every turn of your head, a simpler evening should be ideal. It’s a break. For how often people say they wish they didn’t have a phone or taunt their removal of social media, not many actually enjoy what’s easier to enjoy without distractions. It’s almost like we don’t know what to do without the disturbances and whistles we’ve become accustomed to.
Our succumbing to technology and constant chatter has limited our ability to be content in environments that lack those bells and whistles. It’s important to realize how much attention we give materialistic things or shallow events. Realizing this helps us control that amount and ground ourselves. I’m not saying become a hippy and be one with nature, but I can’t say trying that wouldn’t hurt. I’m saying to branch out. Branch out and enjoy it. Try to, at least. There are a lot of situations where the phrase “less is more” is applicable, but then we think, why have less when you can have more? Instead of asking that, do more and think more with less. By doing that, you’ll feel there, wherever “there” is. Living with constant expectations of your surroundings doesn’t allow you to submerge yourself in what’s actually around you.
There are extraordinary places and people everywhere. They might not always be easy to see or understand, but that just means it’s your challenge to accept or deny. It’s up to you to look longer and think harder about the world around you. In a time period where almost everything can be answered in a matter of seconds, it’s easy to admit defeat on something unfamiliar or abnormal. Are we really going to be those people who give up because we can’t generate our own thoughts and ideas? Are we really going to be those people who go to places for the Instagram picture rather than the view?
Less really is more. Here’s to minimizing our expectations and maximizing our presence.
