General Chat

family member recently and that he described himself as a "Simple soul"..it was an expression my mum also used about herself.

Both of them were very straightforward, honest, essentially very compassionate people who loved what they loved ( gardening, pottering, reading,animals, people, going places) and who they loved ( family, friends, suffering humanity) , with no pretense or 'game playing' .

They never aspired to (or won) 'fame and fortune' or a high flying career. Just giving out a huge amount of love, which was given back by those who knew them.

Do you see yourself as a 'simple soul', would you be content to be perceived that way,or are you more driven, to succeed or achieve?

(NB by 'simple' i don't in any way mean not intelligent or well read etc, my mum though not 'educated' (leaving school at 14) , was always so interested in everything that she carried on 'educating' herself her whole life)

xx

I partly quoted this yesterday and nearly quoted this tonight lol

To quote Elwood P Dowd:

"Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me. "

It's my favourite quote,

No reason why you can't be both smart and pleasant, is there?

Sue x

I try hard to aspire to all the things you mention, but I slip up now and again!

I have achived and am a simple soul,,,,my achivements are only as good for the place I achived it for,why bore the pants off someone with ramming it at them at every given turn,

I did look a plonker in the gown but the cap suited me so well}}}}}}}

Not at all Suzian, it's a bit of a daft quote but i like it.

however, I like to interpret "smart" in this context in the same way that I think Jane Austin described her "heroine" Emma as clever. (Probably because I read "Emma" at roughly the same age as I first saw "Harvey that I've made this bizarre connection to the words lol)"

I don't think the term clever referring to Emma was meant to be the same as wise or intelligent but to me anyway suggests that she was quite calculating and felt quite proud of her ability to match make.

In the same way I interpret "smart" in this context as being "clever/smart in business" which suggests that it was ok to trample on others to get what you want in business/life and therefore it wasn't such a pleasant thing. Does this make sense to you? sorry it's late and I'll probably look at it in the morning and think "what on earth have I written?" lol

'Simple soul' can mean different things to different people.
I think I'm a 'simple soul'.
I don't aspire to travel the world, drive a fast car or achieve losts of useless expensive things.
Give me a day out in the countryside and I'm a happy soul.
A hot coffee on a windy shore.
A rummage at a fete.
A pint of real ale in a pub garden
A hug from my children/grandchildren.
Sitting at home - doing absolutely nothing.

Let me retire and I'll be like a pig in sh*t!!