Programmed Responses

Because the Brian Andreas quote that serves as the tag line (and hence also provides the title) of this blog includes talk of things being simple, many have assumed that this will be a blog all about trying to achieve simplicity. In part, that is true. However, it has really been the first part of the Andreas quote about learning to tell the truth about what makes me happy that has served as the impetus not only for this blog, but for new ways of thinking as I enter, what I presume will be, the second half of my life.

For those who have never experienced difficulties in telling the truth about what makes them happy, it may seem as though it should be a no-brainer to clearly communicate one's feelings, hopes, and desires. And, they would be right, I suppose ... it should be something that comes instinctively. But, at least for me, that has not always been the case. Whether from nature or nurture, I do not know, but I seem to have programmed responses that circumvent such a truth/happiness mechanism. For example, even when I have convinced myself that if I am asked the following questions I will respond truthfully, when I am actually asked, the following responses seem to automatically spew forth, almost, as it were, involuntarily:

Are you mad? No.
What's wrong? Nothing.
What do you want to do? I don't care.
Did that hurt your feelings? No, of course, not.
Are you okay? Yes.

Sometimes these answers are, in fact, truthful. But, clearly, they cannot be true all the time ... and, yet, they are the answers that naturally come flowing out of my mouth. So, just like the person in Andreas' story ... I am trying to realize the life shift that can occur when I learn to tell the truth about what makes me happy ... or, more precisely, when I learn to answer the kinds of questions listed above truthfully ... when the truthful response becomes as second nature as the programmed responses.

I am eagerly looking forward to the day when I can say in tandem with my blog title and tagline: "I never knew it could be that simple."

New Beginnings

I was recently discussing with my spiritual director why being me was sometimes so difficult. Whatever his response may have lacked in compassion was made up for with insight: "It is only difficult because you make it difficult." As much as I wanted to argue that he just didn't understand all of the complexities involved, there was a part of me that wanted for him to be right ... that longed for it to be as simple as that -- as simple as just making it not be complicated. That conversation, coupled with my timely discovery of Brian Andreas' StoryPeople, thanks to one of my dearest friends, has been the genesis of my effort to make that kind of simplicity instinctive to my every day life.

In addition to the Andreas quote in the tagline of the blog, I had also come across the following:

So, as I start another chapter of my life ... and yet another blog, I invite you to join me on the journey of (re)discovering the fact that life could very well be that simple.

(Any Brian Andreas quotes or pictures are copyrighted material. His prints and other items can be found at http://www.storypeople.com/storypeople/Home.do )