Simplicity

Isn't that just such a trendy word these days?  Everywhere you look there's a magazine article, a book, or some other media source touting the need to simplify.  Simplify what?  Evidently everything.  We're told to simplify our spending, our possessions, our wardrobe, or homes.  We need to make our meals simpler.  The time we spend just doing needs to be simplified.  Our kids need to be simplified too. Personally, I think that the word is grossly overused, but more importantly, misused.

Let me explain.  According to the dictionary, simplify means "the act of making something easier."  Well, that's a bit of a subjective idea, isn't it?  What would make something easier for me isn't necessarily what would be easier for another person, you know?  Think about laundry for a second:  Most people involved in the simplicity movement would tell you to get rid of your dryer and hang all of your laundry on a clothesline.  Is that really simpler than throwing everything in a dryer, turning the knob, and waiting for the machine to do all the work?  Heck no!  Now think about cooking:  Isn't it easier to run to the store and buy bread or soup or applesauce rather than spending the time to make it yourself?  Of course!  But here's the catch in all of it--does it really matter if a task is simpler/easier to complete if you truly enjoy the experience and process of doing it the unsimplified way better? So maybe the first thing we need to do is take a step away from Pinterest or other people's blogs that chronicle their incredibly exciting lives, and really stop and think what it is that we truly enjoy.  What makes us honest-to-goodness happy?  How do we really want to live?  Sometimes the answer will be EXACTLY what the other 99% of people are doing, but other times, we'll be alone in our choices. When you are true to yourself, everything seems simpler.

I believe that the key to living a simple life is simply to be filled with gratitude.  About everything.  I am not an optimist by nature.  In fact, I'm pretty sure the world is going to end at least once a week.  It's a habit, though, to train ourselves to see what to be thankful for in the everyday, simple things in life.  I think this is what draws us to the simplicity movement--the desire for contentedness in everything.  Have you ever known someone who was always content?  Not always happy (now THAT would be just plain annoying!), but always content with what they had.  I've known a few of those, and they are so awesome to be around!  Rather than filling our lives with more, more, more, maybe we need to be more appreciative for what we already have.

So, that's my take on the simplicity movement.  First, identify how you (not your neighbor, not your friends, not your family) really want to live.  Then, be filled with gratitude for what you have.  Always stay true to your real self in the process.

And there's nothing wrong with downsizing our home, our wardrobe, our car, our spending, our possessions, etc. in order to better live our lives.  I think those are the things most people think of when they consider simplifying.    Sometime when we have too much we can't see the joy in the simple.  There is, however, something inherently wrong with downsizing ice-cream sizes.  Did you know that many ice cream manufacturers have done just that?   But NOT Ben & Jerry's.  Whew.