Reflections on Another Time

I just finished writing a young adult novel set during The Ice Age. I had to research the people, the animals, the climate, etc. I started thinking about how much unnecessary crap we live with every single day. People can exist and thrive on very little. Hey, I should know. I'm a writer...ba boom teesh! But seriously, we can. If you think about it, it's rather sickening how much crap we have today. What do we really need? Well, let's go back in time to ponder this thought. We need a roof over our heads...sometimes...in the ice age...for sure. We need food. We need love. We don't NEED clothes, well, if it's cold we do but we won't die without them. Back in time, people used the entire animal. They even used the bones to make spears to kill more animals. They used the furs for warmth, the meat for food, the teeth and claws to decorate their bodies. They used long hairs to paint on their cave walls.

I know...I sound a little nutty today but I just returned from a camping trip and we camped primitive. And I do mean...PRIMITIVE. Tent camping, no electricity, a hike to the bathroom and we did it with our children. We had to build a fire to cook. We fished. We slept under the stars and listened to the lake waters lap on the shore. I realized how out of touch all of us are with our cell phones, laptops, ipods, television, radios, cars. Going back to nature sometimes can really open your eyes.

Ancient people died earlier too....sometimes. They were more vulnerable...sometimes. In some ways, they were stronger. To think they were born, lived, loved, made love and died all out in the open, all under the stars, under the blazing sun, near oceans and rivers and creeks and in caves....it's so simple and so real. For me, it puts everything into focus.

Now, I don't want to hang out with woolley mammoths or saber tooth tigers or anything but maybe a short trip out into the wild blue yonder will do us all some good and force us to see. I mean really see. Maybe for the first time, we can see a glimpse of what our ancestors saw. True beauty in life, in breath, in waking for the sunrise, in living for the day and loving for the moment.

~Enjoy Life!
Alisha