A wee bit of longing for?? A simpler life or a mansion??

My five year old and I visited a living history museum today called Norway Village, near Mount Horeb, WI. It was lovely.

Those early settlers truly lived a simple life; everything they used was hand made, and though the thought of digging through the sod with the blunt wood shovel they showed us gave me chills as a gardener, I was incredibly drawn to the "naturalness" of everything they interacted with on a daily basis, from the stone walls, to the handmade quilts, to the wood carved spoons, each one with a date carved on it.

Truly, one of the first thoughts I had was, "I've got to start buying some of these Norwegian antiques!" Somehow I was linking this purchase to the feeling of simplicity and peace that resounds about this museum.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before Jane Hammerslough's words in Dematerializing - Taming the Power of Possessions was whispering through my memory.

I'd read the book on a plane ride and 30,000 miles above earth, the ridiculousness of thinking objects could somehow make you happy made sense. Ebay created an ad not long ago implying that if you could just find the sailboat you'd used as a child, via Ebay of course, you could in some way recapture your childhood. And the plane's magazine actually had an ad for chocolates you can buy, that were prayed over by monks of some sort (maybe Tibetin?) that "studies showed" resulted in a feeling of peace when eaten.

But back on the ground, those thoughts wrangle with the message of the Secret, by Rhonda Byrne, that says if we wish for it and visualize it, it will come. Then you start thinking, if this is true, shouldn't we all wish for more. Whatever our own specific more is. Why settle for less?

While I have two beautiful boys, I sometimes long for a third child, and wouldn't it be wonderful if it was a girl. And while we have a very nice 1970's split level house with five mostly wooded acres, wouldn't a 3500 square foot Federal style home on 20 acres with a pond be even more wonderful? Heck, maybe we could get a horse!

And while I love my job teaching, maybe I should write that book I think about so much. And wouldn't it be lovely to travel to Italy with my friends Emelia and Lisa, but how would that work with a new baby and at 41, am I too old for more kids? And can I really go back to sleepless nights and exhausted days?

And then I read Eckhart Tolle's A New Awakening and think I should just be in the moment every moment, and why would I waste time and energy in future plans, when I have SO MUCH to be grateful for now. Indeed the average American lives far more richly than even the richest kings and queens of old.

And in the end, would my life be "richer" for more travel, more children, more hours spent building toward goals, or "richer" for doing less, contemplating more, and wanting nothing more than I have??

So these are my evening musings and anyone still up tonight drinking that herbal tea, is invited to give input;-).