Contemplative ruminations on "The Simple Life"

Voyager

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Mar 1, 2004
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?The peace is almost overwhelming, when I stand outside my house. I keep my eyes closed and allow myself to be carried away by the morning's
tranquillity. The early rays of the sun filters through the leaves of a
palm tree in my garden before embracing me in a cool warmth.

I open my eyes and I see a kolibri, as if suspended in free air, giving me
a quick glance and then darting off, looking for nectar. There is a
lingering flash of green-blue sparkle from its glittering feathers....

I feel how the morning is washing away my anxieties, my worries, my
stress. I go inside my house, leaving the door open, and begin preparing
my breakfast...?

Well, it is Friday morning and I have finished my late breakfast. Sipping some tea with milk, I am thinking about the lure of ?the simple life?, that so many people go in search for in the Dominican Republic.

What is ?the simple life?? What do people mean by it? What is it that they really look for? Do they really know it?

Or is ?the simple life? one of those evasive things which are so hard to define, so hard to catch; you have a gut feeling what you are looking for, but can not really translate your desire into words or a defined target that you can grasp and focus on. So, like a crab, you move sideways warily searching for the unsearchable, groping like someone blind in unknown territory, hoping that you will find whatever you are looking for, not completely knowing what it is, in a ?I will recognise it when I find it? sort of way. Hm... it resembles the search for ?true love?, does it not?

Let us go semantic for a moment. The first two definitions of ?simple? in my dictionary tells me this:

1) understood or done easily and without difficulty
2) not complicated or elaborate; plain

Aha, so people are looking for a life which is not difficult and not complicated. Can they find that in the Dominican Republic?

Not difficult... Not complicated... Let me give you an example: I live in a camp for westerners in the countryside of south-western Saudi-Arabia. Accommodation is part of my contract. My accommodation is a house of three bedrooms. Well, some time ago, I noticed a water leakage. Apparently, a pipe or valve had burst and water was bubbling up in a corner of the terrace in front of the house. What did I do? I called ?Camp Administration? and advised them about the problem. They said: ?We will take care of it, Sir!? The next day, when I got back home from work, it was fixed! This is a ?simple life?, is it not? Can I find that in the Dominican Republic? Without being quite wealthy?

I guess this is part of my thoughts here. It is easy to live a ?simple life?, in the above sense of the word, if you have a lot of money (which I do not have) or some other circumstance, such as a very good contract of employment (which I do have!).

If you have the money, you simply (?simply?! Hahaha!) buy the simplicity. But I get a feeling that many people who are thinking of moving to the Dominican Republic are not wealthy! So what will they do? If the water boiler bursts and you do not have the money to fix it, then life will be everything except ?simple.

Another definition
...of the ?simple life? is one that reminds of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his thoughts on the artificiality of modern society and how it corrupted people, who were by nature, fundamentally good.

I think these kind of ideas are what make people talk about moving to the Dominican Republic, in order to get out of ?the rat race? of Europe , North America or wherever they come from.

And then I smile, when I think about one of my friends in Santo Domingo, who has three jobs to make ends meet and be able to save a few pesos. ?Simple life?, huh? ?Get out of the rat race!? huh? Well, sure, but only if you can afford it!

Does the absence, in the Dominican Republic, of the ?artificiial? qualities of Europe make you happy? If you live in Europe, can you not just avoid them if they have no meaning for you? You do not have to go to theatres if you live in London. It is not compulsory.

I, for one, crave ?culture? and without it, I will wither away, like a plant deprived of water and sun. Here I use the word in the lexicographic meaning: ?culture? = ?intellectual or artistic achievement or expression?. I need to see a theatre performance (in February , I will travel to Hong Kong to see genuine ?Chinese Theatre?), I enjoy art (Tate Gallery in London is like a sacred temple for me), I am fascinated by a dance performance ( I remember seeing a fantastic performance of Flamenco in Madrid) and so much more expressions of ?culture?.

An example close to me: My brother lives in the country side in Sweden. He makes a small income by helping the local farmers, repairing tractors and other equipment. He chops wood, to burn to heat his little house in the winter time. He rarely goes into the city, never goes to a cinema and has never been to an art museum in his life. His income is only a fraction of the minimum wage in Sweden. He is indeed living a very ?simple life?, without moving to the Dominican Republic! What is my point with this paragraph? It is that you do not have to move to the Dominican Republic or anywhere else, to live a life of simplicity, avoiding the trappings and artificiality of modern society. You can stay home and you do not even have to learn Spanish... Sure, there are no white beaches or palm trees in Sweden, and my brother could not care less.

Well, I am intrigued by this subject and I can go on raving forever, but I will stop here. What IS ?the simple life? ??? I find the question interesting not only from a practical point of view (money, accommodation, work etc) but much more from a philosophical angle. What do people REALLY mean, when they say that they are looking for a ?simple life?.

I do hope that no-one was offended by my words above! That was not my intention. I have visited the Dominican Republic many, many times and I like the charm of the country. But does it offer a ?simple life?? I am not so sure about that...
 

Gringo

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Jan 1, 2002
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WoW

Voyager said:
?The peace is almost overwhelming, when I stand outside my house. I keep my eyes closed and allow myself to be carried away by the morning's
tranquillity. The early rays of the sun filters through the leaves of a
palm tree in my garden before embracing me in a cool warmth.

I open my eyes and I see a kolibri, as if suspended in free air, giving me
a quick glance and then darting off, looking for nectar. There is a
lingering flash of green-blue sparkle from its glittering feathers....

I feel how the morning is washing away my anxieties, my worries, my
stress. I go inside my house, leaving the door open, and begin preparing
my breakfast...?

Well, it is Friday morning and I have finished my late breakfast. Sipping some tea with milk, I am thinking about the lure of ?the simple life?, that so many people go in search for in the Dominican Republic.

What is ?the simple life?? What do people mean by it? What is it that they really look for? Do they really know it?

Or is ?the simple life? one of those evasive things which are so hard to define, so hard to catch; you have a gut feeling what you are looking for, but can not really translate your desire into words or a defined target that you can grasp and focus on. So, like a crab, you move sideways warily searching for the unsearchable, groping like someone blind in unknown territory, hoping that you will find whatever you are looking for, not completely knowing what it is, in a ?I will recognise it when I find it? sort of way. Hm... it resembles the search for ?true love?, does it not? ...

Very well said, Sometime's I still get flashbacks from the Sixties and I'm on your very same wavelenghth.......Peace
 

planner

.............. ?
Sep 23, 2002
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A good read

Hello Voyager, I quite enjoyed reading your ponderings!!!

For me the simple life is about living where I can be authentic! Whatever that means! For me living in the DR is where (so far) I find myself easily being my most authentic self.

IT isn't about how hard I work, I would do that anywhere as I love the challenges, it is about being who I really am. For whatever reason I find the culture here more supportive of that. Maybe it is that live for the moment mentality. I'm not sure.

Could you find that elsewhere? You bet. It is about personal choice and the way we live. IT is about walking away from the social pressures etc... SOunds like that is what your brother does.....

THanks for the insight.....
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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I agree that the simple life can be found almost anywhere. Here are my own ruminations of the subject:

First of all, I'm not here in the DR because of a search for the simple life. I live here because work and personal circumstances brought me here. I've always had the simple life as an ideal, to some extent, but paradoxically it's proving to be somewhat of a luxury.

In some ways my life here is a lot simpler, in others far more complicated. You don't need to be particularly well-off to have most menial tasks done for you in the DR. In the UK, where most people do their own housework and DIY, this is not the case. I also find that services such as vehicle mechanics, plumbers and electricians are far more accessible here, compared to the UK where it is difficult to get someone to come to your house straight away, unless you pay through the nose.

Complicated? I was used to a good public transport system and a small city where I could cycle anywhere. That's one thing I really miss. In SD I use a car and I hate driving here.

I was also used to reasonably good public medical services where you could fit in a visit to the doctor on the way to work, whereas here you have to waste days on end in waiting rooms, thanks to the infernal 'orden de llegada' system, and the endless tests they love sending you for. Paying for health care is a shock to my system!

Other things like never finding the item you want on the first try, having to go from supermarket to supermarket, ferreteria to ferreteria, farmacia to farmacia etc.

We have to live in the city, for various reasons. We do have the option of living in the campo, which would be the ultimate simple existence, but the means of making a living would be limited, and I would probably die of boredom. I don't go out that much, but I need to know that all the city has to offer is there. Cinema, theatre, music, food, and last but not least, my friends. :)

Maybe I'm more addicted to fast city living than I care to admit. :ermm:
 

TEHAMA

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Feb 3, 2004
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Too deep for me! Sound like some of us have been smoking that "wacky tabacky" OR have too much free time on our hands.

I, myself, crunched numbers from 6AM to 830 PM yesterday. And do not consider that simple in any stretch of imagination. Would I appreciate a "simple life?" Probably not. As I've never had it. And those who do probably dont recoginze it either.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK ...you slackers!
TEHAMA
 

Keith R

"Believe it!"
Jan 1, 2002
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Voyager,
Great post, very thoughtful, very eloquent.

Years ago on DR1, when I still lived in the DR, and after reading one too many posts by non-Dominicans wanting to move to the DR -- sometimes without ever having seen the place! -- to experience the "simple" "non-stressful" life in "paradise" where everything is sunshine, smiles and friendliness, I tried to raise some of the same questions, albeit not as gently and eloquently as you have. I got blasted as cynical or full of sour grapes. By people who didn't want reality injected into their dreams. And by people who perhaps didn't want any hesitation in the flow of starry-eyed foreigners coming with money to spread around in search of paradise. And by people who had some bone to pick with Western (European & North American) societies [which I always found amusing, since the DR is always striving to rush headlong into becoming more like those same societies!]. And last but not least by a few souls who genuinely did seek a simplier life, living daily on the beach or in the boondocks with little electricity and living off fresh fruits and veggies...Anybody here remember Gunnar and his "simple life" in a shack in Jarabacoa? [BTW, last I heard, Gunnar developed a health problem and had to abandon the bucolic life because he couldn't receive proper care in the DR.]

The point I tried to make then, and hopefully will be more successful making now, is that for many of us, moving to the DR is not really a shift to a simple life or a removal of stress from our lives.

As you say, Voyager, the well-to-do or those working on contract with great benefits can simply buy their simplicity & lack of stress in the DR. And pensioners with good pensions paid out in dollars or with a big nest egg, and no kids to have to take care of anymore, who may desire simply to hang out at the beach or play golf on the North Coast, probably also can find the life they want in the DR. So can the adventurous young single person who cares little about material goods and just wants to party or experience a different culture on the minimal salary of an EFL teacher.

Then there's the rest of us. For many moving to the DR it is more a matter of exchanging one set of concerns & stresses for another. Or in fact, moving from any place to another is a series of trade-offs. The key is to identify fully & clearly what the trade-offs actually are, which factors appeal to you more and then do a balance sheet.

Even though DR1 did not yet exist then to help people like me, I did not move to the DR starry-eyed seeking a simpler life or paradise -- I knew what it was like. I was (am still) married to a dominicana, spoke Spanish, had visited extensively for nine years, have a background in Latin America history, poli sci & literature. We moved for more complex reasons -- a job opportunity for my wife, her longstanding desire to return to her country, a desire to have our little twins experience the other half of their cultural identity & get to know their Dominican family, a chance for me to see how my consulting biz might work while actually living in Latin America & the Caribbean, among other reasons. We moved with no preconception of how long we'd stay, other than at least 2 years, but maybe for life if all went well. Like any other place, staying depended on a periodic re-calculation of the best interests of the family as a whole.

So unlike some, I came to the DR eyes wide open.

It quickly became apparent to me that life in the DR was simply a different set of concerns and stresses -- different trade-offs.

For example, less bureaucracy, testing and political correctness in the schools, but I had to actually pay alot out-of-pocket to get a decent education for the twins (and still would have gotten better education in public schools in Fairfax County, Virginia), and then worry about whether someday they would have problem getting into good colleges in the States (after teaching many, many Dominican college students, I had little faith in the level & quality of college instruction in the DR).

Yeah, I no longer had to pay through the roof every month for health insurance. But every time we had to rush to a clinic, I had to cross my fingers that the health care would be adequate to the task. There's a reason the rich & well-connected Dominicans go for treatment outside the DR, you know...And let's not even talk about the things one can get in the DR that you rarely get in the US, such as dengue (which my wife went through).

Yeah, fixing & servicing my car was cheaper than in the US, but the road conditions make repairs more frequent, parts were often hard to find, and I had to worry whether the mechanics actually knew what they were doing (yes, folks, some "certified" dealer mechanic in the DR so botched a job on my engine that it resulted in a small engine fire on the way home from the shop!)

Yeah, garbage service was cheaper, but it could hardly be called "service" & was erratic at that. How many times did I have to run out in the middle of the night with my trash because one never knew when they'd show up? If you put your bags out on the curb (as many did) or in those raised metal baskets, the dogs would tear them open, spewing trash everywhere in front of your house.

Yeah, no "nanny government," but much corruption, incredibly incompetent bureaucracy that made every small task a marathon endurance test (and made the Va DMV look like a consumer paradise, which is hard to do!), no protections against fraud, and a justice system that frankly is a joke.

Yeah, nice people and friendly neighbors. But everybody knows everybody else's business (I grew up in a small town, so this was something I knew how to deal with, but not everyone's cup of tea). And how many of the neighbors' arguments did I have to pretend not to hear, or the whine of the generator across the street, or the (loud) political discussions on the curb? And how many times did I have to ask the colmado down the street, vecino, how about asking your clients to turn down the bachata blasting from their car speakers to where the nearby houses stop vibrating, since it's a past midnight on a school night and my kids need some sleep before class?

No stress? Try driving across Santo Domingo every day! Some days my wife came home from work shaking bacause of the antics of Dominican drivers. This from someone accustomed to commuting everyday by the Beltway in DC, which as anyone here from the DC area can attest, can get crazy. And we won't even talk about what it was like getting across town whenever we had a torrential downpour...

Cheaper? Not really. Real estate and food prices were not significantly lower than Virginia, believe it or not. Petrol was more expensive.

Simpler? I don't know about that. I had to take elaborate steps to be able to use my computer (I write for a living) and to prevent all our electronics from being blown out from surges and all the on-again, off-again electricity. [Still lost two computer modems and a fax.] Try finding somebody competent to fix your laptop. And don't get me started on how hard it was to find one simple fuse for my Dominican inverter when a surge blew that!

My phone number was abruptly changed twice by the phone company, without advising us at all and with zero apology, seemingly on a whim, resulting in an interruption in service, some panicked family (they suddenly couldn't get ahold of us), and having to inform everyone in our phone books, personal and business, of the changes, not to mention retooling my biz forms.

How about never knowing when you'll have electricity or water? Yeah you can spend a small fortune on a generator (we didn't have that luxury). Or you can work around it, but cold sponge baths, using buckets of water to flush the toilet and washing your clothes in the middle of the night (when there always seems to be electricity for longer than an hour!) gets old...

I regularly had to go stand in long and frustrating lines -- often to deal with mind-numbing stupidity ("but sir, the computer says you owe us double that, so you must owe it" "but the storm brought down my phone line 2 weeks ago, and your repairmen never showed, so I won't pay for service for those 2 weeks!" "the computer says you have had service, and we can't send a repairman until you pay up" ) and lack of customer service -- just to pay the everyday household bills. You see, the DR effectively does not have a functional postal system to mail your checks in (and most utilities only want cash or CC anyway), and pay-by-phone didn't work because the major credit cards wouldn't permit it because the DR is so famous for CC fraud...

And that "simplier" life also meant airborne pollution (from traffic with vehicles with no pollution equipment, as well as burning trash) that revealed that my daughter is prone to bronchial asthma...

Don't get me wrong. We could have stayed longer and lived with the trade-offs if our own calculus had led us to believe it was better that way for the four of us. In our four years in the DR we met some wonderful people who have become lifelong friends. There were personal and career benefits for both my wife and I, and we think the kids got alot out of it -- a richer cultural foundation, an intimate knowledge of their "other country," lots of love for their Dominican family, unshakeable Spanish, and life lessons about being open to new things, trade-offs and the importance of adaptability...We traveled and got to know better the DR as the wonderful country full of potential as it is. And my wife was cured of her desire to go back and live where she was born and raised the first 17 yrs of her life.

And I will do whatever I can to help the DR. It is firmly in my heart.

So I try not to unequivocally say to people dreaming of going to live in the DR, don't do it. Instead, I try to take off their rose-colored glasses so that they see & take into account the full balance sheet of trade-offs. Everyone's calculus of what trade-off matters most to them is different. In my family's case, the four years in SD was enough; we had to return to the "complex" and "stressful" U.S. life in order to accomplish some of the goals we decided that we wanted to pursue. It was the right decision. Even though we very much miss our Dominican family and friends, we have no regrets about moving back.

Which leads me to one last point: we were careful not to "burn bridges" before we left the States to the DR. We rented our house (let someone else pay our mortgage & taxes!). We kept bank accounts and CC's open (so a credit history intact), albeit in minimal mode. We took only some of our furniture, stored the rest (mostly the best) until the day we would decide whether the DR move was permanent or not. We filed out our US taxes, even though we didn't have to pay any most years. And we voted absentee.

For those who might exclaim, well you should have cut it all, so you would have had nothing tugging on you to come back and you would have been pushed to adapt even more to the DR -- to you, I just say I had two small kids' futures to think of, and didn't want to close too many doors for them. As I said before, everyone's personal calculus of pluses and minuses differs. This was mine.

Regards,
Keith
 
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stewart

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Mar 1, 2004
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The simple life

I would have to say that the mere fact that you can sit and write a treatise on the simple life means you are living it.
I have a high stress, long hours job. I am married with 3 kids. One of them is a new baby. it is winter in Utah and bitter cold. I barely have time to eat and sleep. Let alone watch tv. I have to plan a week ahead to catch my favorite show: The Amazing Race. I don't have time to contemplate the simple life and all its possible forms. As I look out my office window at the snow covered mountains, all I feel are longings for a tropical breeze and a Dominican sunset. And maybe a hot dog from a street vendor in front of the church in La Vega. Break over. Back to reality. Where is my Diet Coke?
 

Voyager

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Gringo and planner, thanks for very nice comments!

Chirimoya, good reading and good to see that we are on similar wave length.

Keith R, thanks for nice words and very interesting reply. Your post gave me a lot to think of. Should give many people a lot to think of!

TEHAMA and stewart, please remember that I live in Saudi-Arabia, a country ruled by Islam. So the weekend is Thursday+Friday! Today was my day off and that is why I had the time to "ruminate". Otherwise, I work 60 hours a week! And that is excluding overtime!
 

Kiwicanuck

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A great mornings postings on a very good subject

A fabulous reflective piece Voyager, a great read.

Seven very good replies in just one morning reflects what a good cross section of readers are in the daily background of these forums.

In Canada they are called 'Snowbirds". People who as they get older want to get away from the cold. It is minus 31 degrees outside as I type this.

(Fahrenheit and celsius come together on the scale at minus 35)

So, in my opinion, climate alone is a great reason for a change of residence altho all the other factors do play a part in the decision process.

A great thread so far for things to comtemplate for someone like myself thinking about a change in residence.
 

stewart

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Voyager, I hope you didn't take my post as a personal criticism. Mostly, mine was a commentary about my own life. That I am so tied up in the act of survival from day to day that I can barely imagine a more simple existence. And that is what many of us do to ourselves. We should all take more time to contemplate our existence and aspirations. Maybe then we can find a way to a better life. If not a more simple one.
 

hugoke01

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Dec 31, 2004
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Simple Life

Voyager I would first like to tell you that I enjoyed reading your article ..Hesitated a long time before I decided to give you my opinion because it's as difficult as giving a definition of happiness or personal freedom ..
I think that you are very close to the answer when comparing "simple life " with "true love ". Both terms are rather abstract and differ from person to person .
So I don't believe that "simple life" can be defined in terms of practical examples although I'll tey later on
First of all I think that "simple life " has generally speaking a positive meaning
Secondly I think that "simple life " implies the possiblity to choose for it ,otherwise it doesn't make a lot of sense . A very poor farmer has probably no possibility to choose for a simple life although is life might be simple
Thirdly I would define it as " no great personal needs by choice "
I know that examples are very difficult but e.g.do we really need to run all over the world to be able to know what's going on in this world ..
Simple life could be to prefer to read a go book with some classical music in the background instead of going for an intensive social clublife ..
I like paintings ..have visited several musea .. Prado , Louvre , Van Gogh museum , Rijksmuseum etc.. until I found out that I prefer seeing paintings and meeting young artists in my neigbourhood ..

I think that a "simple life " has not the meaning of having an easy life ;
bureaucracy as an example is hell to most of us (while in fact it should be a service to help us) etc..but it means by choice limiting your needs..

I can hardly help you but think that the one who chooses for " a simple life "is probably because he thinks that this is a correct way of reaching some stability and some happiness in his life .. and that's not easy -- but for sure you don't have to live in the DR to live a "Simple Life "

Voyager said:
?The peace is almost overwhelming, when I stand outside my house. I keep my eyes closed and allow myself to be carried away by the morning's
tranquillity. The early rays of the sun filters through the leaves of a
palm tree in my garden before embracing me in a cool warmth.

I open my eyes and I see a kolibri, as if suspended in free air, giving me
a quick glance and then darting off, looking for nectar. There is a
lingering flash of green-blue sparkle from its glittering feathers....

I feel how the morning is washing away my anxieties, my worries, my
stress. I go inside my house, leaving the door open, and begin preparing
my breakfast...?

Well, it is Friday morning and I have finished my late breakfast. Sipping some tea with milk, I am thinking about the lure of ?the simple life?, that so many people go in search for in the Dominican Republic.

What is ?the simple life?? What do people mean by it? What is it that they really look for? Do they really know it?

Or is ?the simple life? one of those evasive things which are so hard to define, so hard to catch; you have a gut feeling what you are looking for, but can not really translate your desire into words or a defined target that you can grasp and focus on. So, like a crab, you move sideways warily searching for the unsearchable, groping like someone blind in unknown territory, hoping that you will find whatever you are looking for, not completely knowing what it is, in a ?I will recognise it when I find it? sort of way. Hm... it resembles the search for ?true love?, does it not?

Let us go semantic for a moment. The first two definitions of ?simple? in my dictionary tells me this:

1) understood or done easily and without difficulty
2) not complicated or elaborate; plain

Aha, so people are looking for a life which is not difficult and not complicated. Can they find that in the Dominican Republic?

Not difficult... Not complicated... Let me give you an example: I live in a camp for westerners in the countryside of south-western Saudi-Arabia. Accommodation is part of my contract. My accommodation is a house of three bedrooms. Well, some time ago, I noticed a water leakage. Apparently, a pipe or valve had burst and water was bubbling up in a corner of the terrace in front of the house. What did I do? I called ?Camp Administration? and advised them about the problem. They said: ?We will take care of it, Sir!? The next day, when I got back home from work, it was fixed! This is a ?simple life?, is it not? Can I find that in the Dominican Republic? Without being quite wealthy?

I guess this is part of my thoughts here. It is easy to live a ?simple life?, in the above sense of the word, if you have a lot of money (which I do not have) or some other circumstance, such as a very good contract of employment (which I do have!).

If you have the money, you simply (?simply?! Hahaha!) buy the simplicity. But I get a feeling that many people who are thinking of moving to the Dominican Republic are not wealthy! So what will they do? If the water boiler bursts and you do not have the money to fix it, then life will be everything except ?simple.

Another definition
...of the ?simple life? is one that reminds of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and his thoughts on the artificiality of modern society and how it corrupted people, who were by nature, fundamentally good.

I think these kind of ideas are what make people talk about moving to the Dominican Republic, in order to get out of ?the rat race? of Europe , North America or wherever they come from.

And then I smile, when I think about one of my friends in Santo Domingo, who has three jobs to make ends meet and be able to save a few pesos. ?Simple life?, huh? ?Get out of the rat race!? huh? Well, sure, but only if you can afford it!

Does the absence, in the Dominican Republic, of the ?artificiial? qualities of Europe make you happy? If you live in Europe, can you not just avoid them if they have no meaning for you? You do not have to go to theatres if you live in London. It is not compulsory.

I, for one, crave ?culture? and without it, I will wither away, like a plant deprived of water and sun. Here I use the word in the lexicographic meaning: ?culture? = ?intellectual or artistic achievement or expression?. I need to see a theatre performance (in February , I will travel to Hong Kong to see genuine ?Chinese Theatre?), I enjoy art (Tate Gallery in London is like a sacred temple for me), I am fascinated by a dance performance ( I remember seeing a fantastic performance of Flamenco in Madrid) and so much more expressions of ?culture?.

An example close to me: My brother lives in the country side in Sweden. He makes a small income by helping the local farmers, repairing tractors and other equipment. He chops wood, to burn to heat his little house in the winter time. He rarely goes into the city, never goes to a cinema and has never been to an art museum in his life. His income is only a fraction of the minimum wage in Sweden. He is indeed living a very ?simple life?, without moving to the Dominican Republic! What is my point with this paragraph? It is that you do not have to move to the Dominican Republic or anywhere else, to live a life of simplicity, avoiding the trappings and artificiality of modern society. You can stay home and you do not even have to learn Spanish... Sure, there are no white beaches or palm trees in Sweden, and my brother could not care less.

Well, I am intrigued by this subject and I can go on raving forever, but I will stop here. What IS ?the simple life? ??? I find the question interesting not only from a practical point of view (money, accommodation, work etc) but much more from a philosophical angle. What do people REALLY mean, when they say that they are looking for a ?simple life?.

I do hope that no-one was offended by my words above! That was not my intention. I have visited the Dominican Republic many, many times and I like the charm of the country. But does it offer a ?simple life?? I am not so sure about that...
 

Danny W

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Mar 1, 2003
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Voyager - Simplicity is an inner state. A person can live in a bare room with no responisbilities, and his mind can be swimming with complex problems and worries. Simplicity is also at the core of all great art. Being a concert goer, I'm sure you have experiences listening to something complex, like a Prokoffiev concerto, with a million notes zooming by, and yet you are struck by the awsome beauty and timeless serenity of the piece. For me, the older I get - I'm almost 61 - the simpler my life becomes, not because I have less work or fewer responsibilities (I may even have more), but because I'm wiser now than I used to be. In a way, wisdom and simplicity are the same thing. I'm no sage, but I sure am alot smarter than I was 30 years ago, and as result, my life is simpler. - D
 

planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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A little story

This defines why I am here:

The day after Christmas and I am in my apartment. My phone rings and it is a friend from Canada calling to say Merry Christmas. We exchanged pleasantries and then she said: "What did you get for Christmas?"

Well, I answered the following:

On Christmas morning I got two wonderful friends sharing Champagne and orange juice with me, sitting on my balcony overlooking the incredible view of the ocean! We sat there for almost 2 hours reflecting on life, friendship and other things. We basked in the sunshine and heat as we shared each others company.

Then I had the gift of 9 people, some friends, some future friends and some just passing thru my life, joining us for dinner! We shared wonderful food, good company, great conversation and some passable wine!

Later we sat again on the balcony watching the moon rise over the ocean while we sipped coffee and baileys....

It was a truly magical day. The very best Christmas I have ever had.

So, I said, and what did you get for Christmas? She was speechless!

This, to me, is what "simple" is really all about.
 

sjh

aka - shadley
Jan 1, 2002
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forget the simple life. just find an interesting one. Thats what I found here in the DR.

If your whole biography is only a page and a half long what was the point in living at all?
 

Voyager

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Mar 1, 2004
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hugoke01 said:
Voyager I would first like to tell you that I enjoyed reading your article ..Hesitated a long time before I decided to give you my opinion because it's as difficult as giving a definition of happiness or personal freedom ..

Well, I am happy you decided to write your post, because I enjoyed reading it.

I agree that this is a difficult subject to discuss , because it is hard to define and "put your hands on". But all the more reason to try and talk about it and I think we all benefit from sitting down in peace and think through what it is that really matters for us.

People, including myself, have a tendency to run through life, without really knowing if what they are doing is really worth while doing at all?
 

Voyager

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Mar 1, 2004
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Danny W said:
Voyager - Simplicity is an inner state. A person can live in a bare room with no responisbilities, and his mind can be swimming with complex problems and worries. Simplicity is also at the core of all great art. Being a concert goer, I'm sure you have experiences listening to something complex, like a Prokoffiev concerto, with a million notes zooming by, and yet you are struck by the awsome beauty and timeless serenity of the piece. For me, the older I get - I'm almost 61 - the simpler my life becomes, not because I have less work or fewer responsibilities (I may even have more), but because I'm wiser now than I used to be. In a way, wisdom and simplicity are the same thing. I'm no sage, but I sure am alot smarter than I was 30 years ago, and as result, my life is simpler. - D

Hi Danny!

I liked your comparison to a concert, where the first impression of great complexity turns into a perfect balanse of simplicity. Ah, so beautiful!

As for wisdom and age, I am 48 so I am getting there, day by day, I hope...
Yet, I have some friends, much younger than me and I am often struck by their ability to see things much more clearly than I do. Maybe their vision has not yet been impaired by "experience"? Or Maybe it is me, always analysing things to death?

One of my "heroes" is Isaac Newton and I remember some words he wrote in the latter part of his life, reflecting on his life's achievements. He said something like this: "I am like a child playing on the beach, feeling joy at discovering an unusally smooth and shiny pebble, when the entire ocean of knowledge lie undiscovered in front of me..."
 

Voyager

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planner said:
It was a truly magical day. The very best Christmas I have ever had.

Hey planner!

What a wonderful Christmas you had!!! Oh, I wish I had been there too! But enjoying a glass of Curvoisier rather than Baileys...

I just have to tell about my "Christmas":

24 Dec:
Breakfast in Paris, munching on croissants (I love croissants! They alone are worth the trip to Paris!) in a cafe with a view of Arc de Triomphe.

Then Air France coach to Charles de Gaulle. Chaotic check-in at Saudi Arabian Airlines counter, amongst a huge number of "Hajjees", going on pilgrimage to Mekkah.

Un-scheduled detour to Medina, dropping off the pilgrims, delayed my arrival to King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, and it was almost midnight when I was there.

Then, egg-sandwhich and tea as the only guest in the Dallah Hotel lounge, before going to bed at 2AM.

25 Dec:
Arriving to Abha by the morning flight at 8AM. Only 7 degrees C but I felt warm by the comment from the airline hostess that I looked good in my hat!

Transport to my house, quick shower and then to the office. Keeping with the good Lutheran tradition of Sweden, work always comes first!

Next Christmas, planner, I think I will prefer your balcony!
 
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planner

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Sep 23, 2002
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Christmas 2005

Okay Voyager you are officially invited to my house for Christmas dinner 2005!!!! Put it on your calender but you better bring your own Curvosier!!!

IT really was idealic, simple, elegant in it's own way....

now that whole Paris thing, well that would also appeal to me. I'm somewhat of an explorer and love to see new places, new things and new people....