My friend Chris Eldredge, who is a psychotherapist, and I were talking about the incredible pressures to acquire the ‘right’ stuff –whether clothes, or shoes furniture or art or books or jewelry or soap or whatever.  There are so many things to chose from, and it seems that everywhere we look we are urged to desire things, with the implicit message that if we have them, we’ll be okay.

I told him of a woman I know who said she doesn’t want ANY choices. She just wants go the store and not have to think… just buy whatever is there that works and be done with it.

Chris had his own approach to the acquisition of beautiful things.

I don’t want dizzying choices either. But I don’t want the polar slip to ugly and cheap. So I’ve come up with a hybrid that I find works.

That is, I’ll take SIMPLE and also cultivating some patience, so that the thing that I want, which is usually really nice but more than I want to spend or could spend…I’ll just cultivate patience and sometimes it comes to me  — and sometimes it doesn’t and then I don’t worry about it.

 

I’ll just cultivate patience,
and sometimes it comes to me,
and sometimes it doesn’t.

And then I don’t worry about it.

 

 

 Song: Sombolero by Luiz Bonfa, from the Album Solo in Rio 1959