Remembering How to Live

Now that the economy seems to be pushing the covers aside and venturing from its sick bed, we may find our economic worries easing up and giving way to a golden opportunity: a chance to consider what we have learned. When Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez wrote the book "Your Money or Your Life" Vicki's grandmother thought no one would buy it because "everyone already knows this". What she didn't realize (but the soon-to-be uber successful authors did) was that in two generations traditional wisdom can slip through our fingertips as easily as a credit card through a machine. Startling as this economic alarm has been, it has successfully jolted most of us out of our cultural amnesia and given us a moment of clarity to rediscover who we really are and what truly makes us happy. So what had we forgotten?

Little things, of course, like how incredible it feels to actually fix something yourself. In my grandparents generation it was a daily occurance to see someone prying open an oven, or a radio or a clock to see what had made it stop functioning. People in my generation might think someone had lost their minds if they started cracking open their appliances but it is quite surprising how easily many things can be fixed. My teenage daughter Jenna and I have had incredible success fixing our DVD player for years by simply unscrewing the billion little screws that hold the top in place and cleaning the lense which reads the DVD's. Not everything can be fixed by an amateur but the feelings of empowerment and creativity which come from attempting these repairs are so delightful and profound that even failures seem well worth the effort. And what about those things that aren't made to be repaired, like most electronics today? Our grandparents would never have put up with being sold such garbage, but in the blur of our fast-paced lives we've forgotten what to insist on. How about electronics which come with repair manuals and a number for ordering parts? Now that would be a product worthy of our hard-earned cash.
We had forgotten some big stuff too. Like the whole idea that money and things cannot actually bring you lasting happiness, but health and relationships can. We all think we know this, but then why have we become a nation of where neighbors rarely stop by for a chat, vacation time is shrinking, and mall time increasing?
The great news is we have been given that proverbial second chance to get it right. Since the rat race has been temporarily called for lack of funds, we get an opportunity to poke our heads up and see what lies outside the confines of the racetrack. How had we forgotten that beyond the asphalt is a lush, verdant and juicy existance? All we need now is to give up on all of those perceived prizes for some good old fashioned living. Remember?