Years ago on the west coast of Africa I met a man who lived in a tree. It was a gorgeous majestic tree just back from the beach. He lived there with his cat and you could have dried your washing on his smile.
Sometimes I wonder if he’s still alive, beaming out at anyone who takes the time to go and see him, a glorious accompaniment to the African sun. I imagine him sitting high on a bow looking out onto a night sky of dazzling stars. He was as rich as any man I’ve met.
Yesterday in a traffic jam in wealthy suburbia I looked at the tight lips behind the tinted glass of shiny 4×4’s and late model status symbols and I longed for the sorted life of my African friend.
The simplicity of his lifestyle is the source of his security, there is little material he can loose and yet he has everything he needs. It was impossible not to smile sharing his understanding of real living.
Sitting in my car I felt very sad. Surely our carbon intensive lives will wreck the simple existence of people living natural lives. Clearly there was little happiness in that traffic jam, even in the tallest of the gleaming vehicles spewing out their greenhouse gases.
It’s time to reconnect with the true source of joy and security before we screw it up for everyone.
Smile you have everything you need!
Sometimes I wonder if he’s still alive, beaming out at anyone who takes the time to go and see him, a glorious accompaniment to the African sun. I imagine him sitting high on a bow looking out onto a night sky of dazzling stars. He was as rich as any man I’ve met.
Yesterday in a traffic jam in wealthy suburbia I looked at the tight lips behind the tinted glass of shiny 4×4’s and late model status symbols and I longed for the sophisticated life of my African friend.
The simplicity of his lifestyle is the source of his security, there is nothing he can loose and yet he has everything he needs. I smiled.
And then I felt very sad. Is it not our carbon intensive lives that will wreck the simple existence of people living natural lives? Clearly there was little happiness in that traffic jam, even in the tallest gleaming all wheel drive vehicles spewing out their greenhouse gases. It’s time to reconnect with the true source of joy and security before we screw it up for everyone.
Smile you have everything you need!