fortune cookies

"You will spend old age in comfort and material wealth"

on one hand i feel pretty okay with this fortune. but on my foot i feel the pain of responsibility from the weight of the shackles that bind me to...

money

while i really like the idea of comfort i get uneasy with "material wealth." my pastor preached a sermon once called "soon to melt" and he challenged us to put a slip of paper with those 3 words on all our material things. i thought it a great idea coz if nothing more, it got us all thinking about what we really valued.

and i'm not going to now put "soon to melt" on my laptop and bike, my most expensive possessions...but i keep on wondering (even before hearing that sermon) about simplicity and the joys therein. no, i won't start preaching about how poor people in developing countries are so seemingly happy with the little they have...to compare them with me in anyway would be unfair. what i will say is that keeping things simple has a mysterious pleasure about it. it's like wearing a flattering neck-lined navy blue tank top with a slim fitting pair of well tailored blue jeans and slides vs that plus bangles, a floppy brown hat, very dark-very big sun glasses, a big brown tote, and a neck scarf thingy. i can picture the second one...on someone else...and i like what i see. but i'd much rather take option A.

so while i'd really like to own a 1400 square foot loft with high ceilings and huge windows in downtown chicago i'd much rather buy a house in some regular old subdivision in some regular old suburb that doesn't break my bank. and if i had the money to by the loft while keeping my bank in tact, i'd still rather by the house...if...if i thought for a moment that i was buying the loft just to be able to say that i'm spending my old age in comfort and material wealth.

where i live must be a safe place...safe for all who come over...a place where smiles are created and necessary tears shed...a place where great food is shared and laughter can be heard for days on end..a place where great time is spent, great conversation, great silence, etc... and if safety comes in the form of a 1400 square foot loft with high ceilings and huge windows...i'll say thank You. :)

ah fortune cookies...