The Simple Things

How does one live simply, according to Thoreau? “She says that she felt the necessity of wearing other than a traveling dress, when she went to meet the authorities, for she was now in a civilized country, where people are judged by their clothes” (Thoreau 305 Kindle). Thoreau believes that a life should be lived simply. At the beginning of Walden, he says, “Simplify, simplify, simplify”(Thoreau 1287 Kindle). Thoreau's advice would apply well to today's society lived in civilization, exposed to…

According to Gresham.ac.uk “the perception of money is easily distorted by its value.” Why do people want to be rich? It’s because of their thoughts. It is hard wire into our brains that without something you can’t get the “thing”. The thing of course being a person’s ultimate goal in life. Money changes, money dictates how a person thinks because at the end of the day every human has a brain, but now the way the world is set up, everyone thinks that they have to be someone particular…

The modern homesteading community, is one of people seeking self-reliance and independence for a myriad of reasons through small scale independent farming and food preservation and crafting. The homesteader is more that just a famer and embodies a broad and contradictory spectrum of motives, affiliations, and material practices. (Wilbur, p.154). As Rebeca Kneale Gould states “the homesteader has converted to a new way of life in which the practice of everyday life is a chosen ‘answer’ to a…

Gamble My mind was a crystal vase that contained only one desire, which was to win. I slumped back into my red leather chair, as the Slots machine again stole my money, it was my sixth loss in a row. The big flashing red words of “LOSS” on the digital screen and the loud voices of joy fed on my insecurities. I was sitting here bleary-eyed and unshaven in front of this wealthy machine, but I was only adding to its wealth, as I slowly munched through the family’s life savings. I just spent 2 hours…

inspired to become homesteaders and began to look for more information. The autobiographies of other homesteaders become like a sacred text with guidelines of how to live this lifestyle. “Many have well-stocked libraries of books and magazines on simple living with serve as testament to a way of living that is both practical and philosophical, not just ‘how-to’ but ‘why you should’” (Gould, 1999, p.191). She goes on to say that if one considers the autobiographies as the sacred text, then nature…

The Simple Life at Virtue Hill One of the most beautiful places to visit is the Virtue Hill in Vietnam. I grew up there, and I return year after year to seek the solitude. Virtue Hill is the name of a boarding school and means “God Place.” One of the most picturesque sites is looking up the hill from the village road. The view is spectacular with the school at the top, and the green, fertile farmland below. When I was a fourth grader, my father as a soldier was often deployed far away from home.…

sloshes and plunges to the cool ground from water carriers stumbling in and out of the town’s gates. Outside of the village walls, is a simple house made of earth. Here Wang Lung sits in the cold iron cauldron for a bath. In contrast to the village, the countryside is tranquil and quiet. Dried crops crackle in the wind, and Lung hands his father some hot tea. Lung is a simple farmer, so tea is not to be wasted on any normal day, but this is no normal day. This is the day that Lung…

Skepticism and Epicureanism. Skepticism is appealing because they view the world as only appearances and convention. They believed in a simple life, which I believe is the method to live a good life. Epicureanism also believed in the simple life, and that pleasure would take away from the simple life. With our population growing at an increasing rate every day, I believe the simple life viewed in both of these schools of thought would be the best solutions for a good…

Recently Christians’ persecution has been on the rise, at the same time the churches seem to be going back to their roots. According to the World Watch List, which is produced by the Open Doors USA (2016), a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians in over 60 countries, persecution of Christians worldwide is on a rising trend. In the Bible, the early Christians through their house churches demonstrated to the world God’s plan for the salvation of the world. According to Filson…

Paragraph 1: A lever is a simple machine, which is a long rigid object resting on a pivot or a fulcrum, which rotates. This reduces the effort that is needed to move something. In this experiment the lever is the catapults arm. The lever we have used for the throwing arm is classified as a third class lever. The base of the catapult is the fulcrum, where it pivots off. The load is the beanbag on the end of the arm and the effort is how much it takes to pull down the arm of the catapult. Tennis…