It has been a year now since I published my first postcard. A year of exploring, testing, learning, of savoring a few small victories and suffering a few and then some humbling failures. Either way, I am getting an Ivy League education here in the south of France.
My infatuation with Aix-en-Provence has matured into a deep appreciation over this past year. I continue to marvel at the splendors of this Roman city, with its fountains, its bountiful outdoor markets, its elegant 18 th century architecture cast in the soft pastels of the Provence sun, and its easy Mediterranean character. It is like that. My life is simpler here. This I value and this I have learned: simple is better.
It is hard to find simplicity in a life bounded by possessions and fueled with a heavy dose of consumption. We are remembered for what we create, not what we consume; what we share, not what we possess. The centrifuge of stuff spinning around our daily lives is exhausting to maintain and distracting to manage. Do you ever feel like a whirling hammer thrower in the Olympics?
Well let that hammer go. It is one hell of a release. If you share my suspicions of consumerism as a hobby consider pairing back to the essentials. Feed the desires that bring you sustainable joy and personal definition, or perhaps defined you many years ago, and let the rest go. Our apartment in Aix is not monastic but certainly basic.
My 16 year old son has a great guitar as well, a gift from his generous uncle, and the usual teenage kit: cell phone, iPod, laptop, PS3 system for gaming. There is a good public transport system in much of France your eyes are rolling , and the network of busses and trains around Aix is truly impressive. Why drive to Marseille, for example, when a bus leaves every 10 minutes, makes 2 quick stops en route, then takes the same auto route that you would be following in your car?
