Plain and Simple: A Woman's Journey to the Amish

By Sue Bender

Bender, a career driven wife and mother from Berkeley, sees an Amish quilt in a store.  She is taken with its simplicity, and becomes obsessed with finding a way to live with the people that create such timeless, uncomplicated designs.  It takes some effort, and a little luck, for Bender to find an Amish family willing to take her in for a few weeks.  During that time, she learns that there's nothing wrong with living day to day, finding joy in ordinary tasks.  While some modern conveniences are creeping in to Amish society,  community spirit and joy in just "being" may be more important than recognition and notoriety.

I don't think I could be friends with a person like the author and her friends -- their whole life is built around accomplishments and self-congratulation.  For example, even though she is An Artist, she creates for recognition, not the love of the craft.  Everything has to Mean Something, and every person has to Be Somebody.  She even struggles with how to introduce herself at a party, and whether to describe herself as a therapist, an artist, etc.  After she returns home, she wants to bake bread, quilt, and be domestic, but where she lives won't allow it -- no one has time.  When she scrubs her vacation home top to bottom, a friend mocks her for becoming too submissive and homey.  Sheesh people, it's not all about you!