In the past, I wrote about simple living in rural areas. It seemed to me that the only way to a simpler life is to be removed from the mayhem of modern culture. However, I am discovering that life is simpler, in some ways, IN the city. What the heck?

Yesterday morning. My to-do list included: 1. Doctor visit for whatever is ailing me, 2. Post Office to mail a cool rock to Don the Baptist in ND, 3. Pick-up a few groceries, 4. Find a cafe with free WiFi. 5. Stop somewhere for lunch.

Now, if I were in North Dakota, I would drive 25 miles to the doc and/or  80 miles to find a container of hummus, a decent restaurant, and a Java Chip Frappucino. Today, I entered the doc’s address into Google Maps and drove 3 miles. I was surprised to arrive at a large grocery store. Hmmmm. I looked around and saw a sign that said, “Clinic Inside”. So, I went inside and waaaaay over there, past the potato chip and soda aisles, I found the medical clinic. The pharmacy was right next to the clinic so I walked a few feet to get my Flonase RX filled. While waiting, I mosied over to the coffee bar, which had free WiFi. Along the way, I passed an in-store post office.  After getting the RX, I went to the take-out food counter and found breakfast pizza by the slice (for lunch). I sat in the atrium dining area and enjoyed more free Wi-Fi

I accomplished all my errands at one stop, 6 miles round trip, in two hours. Compare to 160 miles round trip and all day. This is barefaced simplicity, in terms of time and other resources consumed, like gas. Simplicity, it seems isn’t so much found in certain “places” but is something highly variable and possible to find in any circumstance.

The two common denominators of rural and city simplicity are:  getting rid of the stuff that complicates life (material, emotional) and developing a simple-living mindset. Beyond that, everyone–city or rural–can create a simpler life. What matters is how we live, not where.

Of course, this comes to me after idealizing rural life since I was in my teens; I was influenced by the back to nature trend of the 70s, although I settled in cities. In the meantime,  I longed for what I perceived as the purer life outside cities. Now I know, utopia does not exist except in our souls. And I discovered what I was really longing for all this time. Not the rural life in a small town, but a closer connection to the outdoors, to nature, to God.

And I love city people! With great joy I sit in restaurants and coffee shops, just looking. People of all kinds! Varied ethnicities. Old. Young. I don’t know any of them, but I recognize them.  After being away so long, I want to hug them, but I just look around and smile. Ahhhh. People. Wonderful, people. Free-spirited people. Mom’s pushing a baby stroller, a group of women doing lunch, a bunch of seniors lingering over a second cup of good coffee. People walking along the river trail downtown, couples laughing together.

My favorite writers figured out how to have the best of both worlds long ago–living in a beautiful natural setting but spending time in more populous settings, with other artistically-inclined people, at least part of the year. Even John Muir lived in the Bay Area for long stretches, before heading to his Sierras again. Jack London lived in an undeveloped Sonoma County, also near the stimulation of the Bay Area communities. Still-living writers Rick Bass, Doug Peacock, Barry Lopez, live in both worlds. I, too, lived in the Bay area, out in the suburbs. I remember going to Berkeley for my “culture” fixes. I remember sometimes going to Pt. Reyes or Tomales Bay or other points along the coast for spiritual renewal.

I don’t have a particular conclusion to this post…mostly, I am rambling aloud as I integrate my rural/city experiences and plan for my future. I “get” the paradoxical draw of both the outdoors and the city. Humans need other humans but also we need to feed our souls.

Maybe simplicity is not the real goal. Perhaps it is life in balance. That word again! Last post, I talked about an unequal, imbalanced distribution of the world’s technology. Today, a balance between city and nature experiences. Embracing it all.