Back in high school my wife had a maroon 1981 AMC Eagle (see photo) named Bruce. Her dad made her park it on a gravel patch off to the side of the driveway because of the leak in the oil pan. Every few weeks he’d toss a match on the gravel and burn off the accumulated oil. It was a great car.
Not too long after acquiring Bruce, they realized he needed a new antenna for the radio to work (Bruce came sans CD player). My wife and her father went to the local electronics store to pick one up.
Among high school students at the time, the short, rubber antennas were exceptionally popular. While grateful for the car, my wife wasn’t exactly stoked about driving around such a beater, and felt such an antenna might help improve Bruce’s image.
But my father in-law, being a wise man, knew better. Bruce wasn’t the kind of car you put “the cool” anything on. Bruce didn’t need a trendy, small, rubber antenna. “No,” my father in-law said,”Bruce needs this,”as he held up a six-foot whip antenna.
Oh, yeah.
Then my wife understood. Cool isn’t the latest or greatest. Cool is something with personality, something that’s worthy of telling a story about years down the road.
If my in-laws had bought my wife a brand new car instead of Bruce, would it have been as memorable? Personally, I don’t think so.
What does the realization my wife had about the antenna have to do with simplicity?
It’s about shifting our perspective. If we can find and appreciate “the cool” in just about anything, our “needs” become much easier to fulfill and life becomes less complicated. Suddenly you’re not worried about getting the rubber antenna. You’re excited to pull up in your maroon AMC Eagle, giant whip antenna swaying in the breeze, proudly oozing character (and oil) all the while.
Has anyone else had a similar experience or realization?
LivSimpl
