A Simple Life

By Kimberly Nguyễn

Posted on March 1, 2025

Cover Image Title: Tropical Treasure

Cover Image by: Jules

Classification: Photography

Specifications: Resized from 2671 pixels x 2000 pixels

Year: 2024

Location: Costa Rica

If you were to ask me what kind of life I dreamed for 

A few years ago, I would’ve responded, “just a simple one” 

I imagine it would be much like living in a blue paint-chipping home in the middle of nowhere 

Just me with the crickets at night and chirping birds at dawn 

I was drawn to the “simple” things in life like we all are:  

A baby’s hand grabbing one of my fingers, 

The sweet warm smell of a local bakery at 8 in the morning, 

Sunlight brightening my dark hair, 

A soulful poem 

But who am I in absence of

My overly protective mother who is the first one I think of when I’m sick,

My loud neighbors who I can always expect a bright smile from,

My impossible dreams that keep the fire bright to soothe uncertainty about the future,

My first heartbreak that revealed my vast capacity for love

I do not come from simple people, simple pain, nor simple love 

To dream for a simple life is to be exhausted by loudness, driven to crave muteness  

I dream of a noisy, colorful life

With dents and cuts where simplicity could not shield me 

Description: 

This piece is a challenge against how we tend to say we enjoy the simple things in life and how it’s all that matters in the end. I agree that simple pleasures in life are beautiful and do exist, but I think that there are not that many of them- most “simple” joys are deeply nuanced. The examples used in this poem were a soulful poem and a baby’s tiny hand. Poems can be minimized to words on a page, but it is soulful art involving so much vulnerability of the poet. Parental love is deep and, more likely than not, requires a deep connection between two people. When we label certain joys as simple, we are being surface level and separating it from its beautiful complexities because we are just not yet ready to unpack them due to our own preoccupation with life. The end of this poem is more of a personal stance- I never want to be so consumed with my stress, anger, sadness, etc., to have to make something smaller to enjoy it. Happiness and complexity should coexist; simplicity can only be so strong of a shield.

[ Writing Editor: Anonymous. ]