Boston IS America

It has taken me over a week to have the heart to write about the tragedy in Boston on Patriot's Day. Many of those days were spent getting over the shock. Then there was the time spent watching to see if they'd nab Suspect #2. Throughout all of that I dug through story after story, watching, reading, and listening for a common theme.

I sorted out my own story, my love for the city of Boston, for not only the Boston Marathon, but the entire running community, and my love for this beautiful nation. I started to write a few times, but didn't want to bore you with my own memories of waiting on Boylston Street, dashing across the Charles River in the rain or eating clam chowder on a cushy bar stool at what used to be called the Bull and Finch Pub.

I also didn't want to potentially bore you with non-fiction commentary that I personally find fascinating...the Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought on Breed's Hill nearby; it took 86 years for the Red Sox to win the World Series after trading Babe Ruth to New York; or that the streets of Beantown were once flooded with 2.3 million gallons of molasses moving at 35 mph.

My son found the common theme in this nightmare before I did, and pointed it out without realizing how deeply his words struck me.

Ditch Your Control Issues

Simplicity, as a way of being, goes way beyond making dinner in six ingredients or less. It is more than consolidating errands or cutting back on spending.  And it is deeper than limiting the number of invitations given to a birthday party or reducing the size of the front yard flower bed. While these ideas are helpful in the short term, they do little to reduce the stress levels of an overly complicated way of living in the bigger picture of life.

Certainly do make those changes as you journey toward a more simplified lifestyle. However, as you embark upon the adventure of disentangling the complex minutes, hours, and days that make up your life, remember that the keys to achieving personal goals can only be found deep within yourself.

A common characteristic of people (no one group in particular, just a basic human trait) is the interminable need to control. We have an insatiable desire to exert our own control over others, over the community, over nature…everything. The best thing we can do with that need?

Let it go.