Don't Assume That Everything Is So Different These Days | World of ...

I?m a fanatical reader of children?s literature, and one of my favorite authors is Laura Ingalls Wilder. In fact, Happier at Home?s conclusion ? which I think, in all modesty, is one of the best things I?ve ever written in my entire life ? centers on the last few sentences from Little House in the Big Woods.

A thoughtful reader suggested that I might enjoy Little House in the Ozarks, a collection of the pieces that Wilder wrote for regional newspapers and magazines.

Heck yes! I got my hands on a copy right away.

I found much that interested me, and I was particularly struck by one paragraph.

?We are so overwhelmed with things these days that our lives are all, more or less, cluttered.

I believe it is this, rather than a shortness of time, that gives us that feeling of hurry and almost of helplessness. Everyone is hurrying and usually just a little late. Notice the faces of the people who rush past on the streets or on our country roads! They nearly all have? a strained, harassed look, and anyone you meet will tell you there is no time for anything anymore.?

Remember, she wrote this in 1924 when she lived on a farm in a rural part of the Ozarks in Missouri.

I think that we often assume that we feel rushed, hurried, and overwhelmed because of the internet, email, TV, and other newfangled contraptions. But here?s Wilder describing the same phenomenon. Maybe that rushed feeling is an aspect of the experience of ?today? for many adults; while we assume that it?s the new gizmos (whether that?s locomotors, automobiles, telephones, or email) that make us feel that way, it?s really always ourselves.

Speaking of Happier at Home ? a large part of that book describes me grappling with the challenge of slowing down time, and creating a sense of leisure and hurriedness.

Do you struggle with this? To develop a sense of unhurriedness, amid the pace of everyday life?

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What?s more fun than a great temporary tattoo? If you love them as much as I do, check out my friend Tina Roth Eisenberg?s site Tattly. Amazing variety!

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Gretchen Rubin is the award-winning author of The Happiness Project, a #1 New York Times bestseller. Order your copy or read some sample chapters from the book. You can also watch the one-minute book video or listen to a sample of the audiobook. She is a regular contributor to Psych Central.

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????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 1 Jun 2013
????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Rubin, G. (2013). Don?t Assume That Everything Is So Different These Days. Psych Central. Retrieved on June 4, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/06/03/dont-assume-that-everything-is-so-different-these-days/

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/06/03/dont-assume-that-everything-is-so-different-these-days/

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