Is that tech-nobodies? Or techno-bodies? I guess either will do.
Just finished salivating over the latest “Buyer’s Guide” from Outside Magazine. Felt the urge to dogear every other page for future buying reference. Then I realized that the buyer’s guide is just a slicker, more organic form of advertising and that I really didn’t need any of these things. I resisted the urge to “upgrade” because I’m not a piece of hardware in need of the latest “apps” (in the form of watches, bikes, camping gear, sunglasses, etc.) to complete me.
And so I un-dogeared the pages. Then closed the magazine. Then felt a deep sense of relief.
Being content with what you’ve got (meaning, being content with last year’s gear or last year's phone, camera, style, etc.), seems to me, is half the trick of life.
There's a story of a young college student who was visiting Europe one summer, and his father told him to visit an old friend of the father's in Warsaw, Poland, a retired priest. The boy was nearing the end of his summer adventure and remembered his father's request to visit the old priest. After much searching and asking around, the boy managed to find an old apartment building in the middle of Warsaw, and on the 4th floor found the door to the priest's apartment. The boy knocked, and after a few moments, an old man opened the door. The boy introduced himself, and the old man smiled and let him in. The boy put down his back pack and looked around. There was nothing but a chair, a table, a bed, a small kitchen, a small closet, a few paintings, and a handful of books. "Where's all your stuff?" the boy asked. The old priest looked at the boy and asked, "Where's yours?" The boy eyed at the priest quizzically, turned toward his backpack and said, "Well, I'm just passing through." The priest smiled. "So am I," he said. "So am I."