happiness
happens less
the more often you stop to find where it's been hiding”
-Hey Rosetta (The
Simplest Thing)
It is often said that less is more, a concept that has eluded me
until recent months. Trained for years
by the fast paced world of post graduate academia, I quickly learned to fill
each hour of the day with as much productivity as possible, on as little sleep
as needed. I have recently realized that I carried that philosophy straight
into my personal and professional life.
Moving to New Zealand has had a profound effect on this
mindset. Honestly speaking, it is not a
New Zealand thing, though the laid back lifestyle and cruisy mentality of the
kiwi personality hasn’t hindered the adjustment. It is the simplification of nearly everything
in our life that stimulated the change. Literally everything has come back to
basics; our possessions, our clothing, our budget, the amount of people we
know, and our time commitments. This clean sweep has led us to sift through the
clutter we had created, and start to truly enjoy the important things in life.
We were far from unhappy living in Canada, but we certainly were
busy; often filling our days to the max and dreaming of a weekend when we could
catch up, or rest. There were times when this high paced lifestyle started to
catch up with us, and would often wear us down. We finally do not feel like we
are playing catch up. Instead we are starting to appreciate the value of eight
hours of sleep, the joy of family time, and the guilt free feeling of taking a
nap or reading the newspaper on the weekend. Don’t get me wrong. We still have
busy weeks, filled with days of work, housekeeping, grocery shopping, working
out, and a list of things to do. We still have bad days, and feel tired at the
end of the week. Life isn’t perfect, but it is no
longer a rat race.
As our lives here begin
to evolve, we have continued to embrace our new motto of simplicity. We now
choose to spend our time doing things that we are excited about doing, and
spending less time on the “should dos”. On the top of this list has been
exploring the local landscape on our newly purchased bikes. After making the
decision that we could survive here without a car, we decided that purchasing
bikes would be an essential second option to public transit. Riding our bikes
has opened up a whole new world of trails, streets, and beautiful landscape to
us. On the weekends, if the weather is fine, we will take our bikes out for a long
ride to explore the local area. Our explorations have given us a whole new perspective
on our surroundings, and also provided us with a sense of newfound freedom.
I also have been
commuting to and from work on my bike. Being that a large part of the population
of Paraparaumu lives here, but works in
Wellington, the morning rush hour is fairly tame. This allows me a peaceful
ride to and from work without too much stress of dodging traffic. I wake up
each morning, eager to check the weather outside. Rain and high winds usually
mean I will be limited to public transit, an transportation option that is
usually my second choice. The commute on
my bike is about 20 minutes each way, depending on the strength of the wind. It
is relatively flat, which allows me to shower prior to leaving for work, and
arrive still smelling lovely enough to treat patients (once I’ve changed my clothes
and fixed my helmet hair). The best part, however, is the ride home. My route
runs parallel to the ocean for about fifty percent of the ride. Though the road
runs parallel, the view of the ocean is often blocked by homes and vegetation
for a good part of the ride. However, there is one segment, about 10 minutes
from home, where the beach opens up, unblocked by any physical structure. It is
here, that you are able to bask in the incredible view of the ocean and Kapiti
Island in the distance. Whether it is a sunny afternoon, a colour saturated dusk,
or a cloudy overcast day, this view never fails to stop me in my mental tracks
and take notice of its beauty. For the next three minutes of my ride,
regardless of how good or bad my day was, I am overtaken by a deep sense of
gratitude and appreciation for my surroundings, and the simple beauty of the
natural environment of New Zealand.
And just like that,
whatever chaos that may have been rolling around in my brain is suddenly washed
out to sea.
That seems to happen a
lot to us here, those moments when the beauty, or pure presence of nature, seems
to stop us, forcing us to experience its wonder. The events of Saturday morning
are a perfect example. Awaking early to the feeling of Huff’s nose in my face, her
tail wagging quietly at the side of the bed, our Saturday morning routine
sprung into full swing. After a lazy breakfast, we set out for a morning walk
on the beach. Walking through the dunes on our beach access route, I caught
site of a shape on the sand that looked like an animal. Second guessing myself out
loud, I disregarded the shape as one of the many large pieces of driftwood that
often washes up from Kapiti Island. Trent took a closer look to find that it
was indeed a full grown seal! It was lying on the beach hardly moving, other
than to lift its head or flipper. We were concerned that it might be sick or be
close to death. We left it in peace to continue our walk, and Trent searched
the web for a number to call to get it some help. By the time we returned back
down the beach, the seal was still there, lying still as before, but this time
we had two more dogs and their respective owners in tow. One owner contacted
the SPCA, who provided her with a number to the Coast Guard who could help in
this situation. We are not sure if it
was the threat of the coast guard, the dogs nearby playing, or just that the
tide was coming in, but the seal started to move. Taking its time to yawn,
stretch, have a good shake and a drink of sea water, it made its way back out
to sea waving his flipper in the air as he went. (Ok, that last part didn’t
happen). Turns out he was just having a nap.
 |
| This is when we thought he was sick |
 |
| Waking up... |
 |
| Good Morning Stretch |
It is moments like these
that seem to make our New Zealand experience unique. On a day to day basis,
life seems to move ahead as normal, in a way that we might live in any city in
Canada. But it is these small, unique and special moments each day that create
a collection of reminders of where we are and what we are doing.
While the simplicity of
our lives may not last forever, the experience of removing the clutter has
taught us a valuable lesson that we will carry forward into future endeavors.
In the absence of the extra noise, I have come to love and appreciate my best
friend and little family in a deeper and more meaningful way, spending my time
carefully, instead of testing its limits each day. In a fast paced and material
driven world, I had previously thought that feeling this way would be something
short of a dream.
It turns out, it’s just
the simplest thing.
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