To Live A Life Of Simplicity

    Life is like lettuce. Lettuce is crunchy. Good for you. Basic. Simplistic. But, somewhere down the line, we are taught this isn’t enough. It needs something more. Something to marinate it, give it flavor. Your parents suggest dressing, a friend: croutons, your teacher: tomatoes, your pastor, cucumbers. Before you know it, what was once so innocent and pure becomes an overloaded salad. And no longer is life basic; simplistic. But it is a bowl of shit. A great big bowl of overflowing shit… a product of a world that tells you more, more, more, and scorns those who live simply by intuition. So go back to when you were young- when nothing really mattered, when public opinion was irrelevant, when you weren’t so desperately searching for something more- and settle for the lettuce. Settle for what is basic, instead of making a mess of something wholesome with unnecessary ingredients.

“Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people living for today”
- Imagine, John Lennon

John Lennon speaks of a stripped down existence in which all humans can learn and embrace their common humanity. It is no wonder that Marion would feature excerpts of Lennon’s classic song of hope amidst the post-apocalyptic universe Warm Bodies takes place in. 

I can’t help but think that we, as humans-myself included- over-complicate our existence. We spend our days with the unhealthy obsession of critiquing and refining ourselves. As a child we were free to trust our most basic senses and live by whim, yet as we grow older we are taught to distrust ourselves. The push and pulls of others, the expectations and advice they express, influence and ultimately corrupt the intended flow of our existence. And so, we live a life of excesses that overrides our natural experiences.

                Lennon speaks to us as he would to a child, imploring us to sit and be open to learn of the greater world around us. “It’s easy if you try,” he says. And it is easy to think as he does, to hit at the heart of humanity. The human experience, the unique emotions and thoughts we receive uncensored, offer all the necessary essentials for a satisfying and harmonious life. In a world of swirling opinions and norms, it may take courage for one to listen only to his own instincts, yet the results of doing so will be incredibly rewarding.