I’m way past the striving for more stuff. Rather than accumulate, I’m trying to shed things. I don’t want my kids to have to figure all that out when I’m gone.
More and more though I find myself turning to the interior “stuff.” What can I toss out? What’s lurking in dark and dusty corners? What helps me move forward? What holds me back? I would very much like to continue simplifying the way I move through the world.
That question has me pondering this morning. I thought I live a fairly simple life, but that is in comparison to the majority of the population of the western world. I live and have lived my life out of doors. From sheepherding, to cowboying, to ditch riding, to working potato harvest, picking flowers, picking fruit and working for various farmers and ranchers. We have a small forage farm. I raise an 800 sq ft vegetable garden and raise our own meat. None of this is really simple, just a different lifestyle. I do not have a cell phone, or as I call them a handheld device, fix things instead of buying new and do my best to be self-reliant. But we are all interconnected. We all need each other. The one thing is for me to live with presence in the present, continue to meditate and be grateful.
Thoreau, in Walden, writes:”simplify, simplify, simplify.”
I am old enough to remember a time before ATMs, mobile phones, computers. We’re talking the technological equivalent of stone age (read: slide-rules anyone?). Compared to the marvels of the present, I am not convinced we are all that better off. When I read the question I had the image of throwing my iPhone into a lake. But it would be bad for the lake.
Less screen time. Stay away from social media (here excepted of course). Plant a garden. Write letters. Empty my home of every single thing that is superfluous. As a friend once said ‘dying ready’ as if I was preparing the place for my survivors to come and find everything tidy. Drive as little as possible. Walk. No headphones…(I don’t even know if I have any).
As the question says: to simplify MY life. From there, from long experience, I know that the complexity and brilliance of life is more vivid, more obvious, more impactful. For the frontiers of ‘my’ life are in fact ever more permeable than I am wont to think, and its area much smaller.
Give yourself the gift of free bi-monthly inspiration including uplifting articles, diverse stories, supportive practices, videos, and more, delivered with heart to your inbox.
I can definitely get rid of more stuff. Internally, I can continue to work on living in the present and less pondering about the future.
Buy less stuff
Continue using cloth bags, not plastic
I’m way past the striving for more stuff. Rather than accumulate, I’m trying to shed things. I don’t want my kids to have to figure all that out when I’m gone.
More and more though I find myself turning to the interior “stuff.” What can I toss out? What’s lurking in dark and dusty corners? What helps me move forward? What holds me back? I would very much like to continue simplifying the way I move through the world.
That question has me pondering this morning. I thought I live a fairly simple life, but that is in comparison to the majority of the population of the western world. I live and have lived my life out of doors. From sheepherding, to cowboying, to ditch riding, to working potato harvest, picking flowers, picking fruit and working for various farmers and ranchers. We have a small forage farm. I raise an 800 sq ft vegetable garden and raise our own meat. None of this is really simple, just a different lifestyle. I do not have a cell phone, or as I call them a handheld device, fix things instead of buying new and do my best to be self-reliant. But we are all interconnected. We all need each other. The one thing is for me to live with presence in the present, continue to meditate and be grateful.
To live more simply I will free my heart from hatred, free my mind from worries, give more, expect less and enjoy every moment.
Thoreau, in Walden, writes:”simplify, simplify, simplify.”
I am old enough to remember a time before ATMs, mobile phones, computers. We’re talking the technological equivalent of stone age (read: slide-rules anyone?). Compared to the marvels of the present, I am not convinced we are all that better off. When I read the question I had the image of throwing my iPhone into a lake. But it would be bad for the lake.
Less screen time. Stay away from social media (here excepted of course). Plant a garden. Write letters. Empty my home of every single thing that is superfluous. As a friend once said ‘dying ready’ as if I was preparing the place for my survivors to come and find everything tidy. Drive as little as possible. Walk. No headphones…(I don’t even know if I have any).
As the question says: to simplify MY life. From there, from long experience, I know that the complexity and brilliance of life is more vivid, more obvious, more impactful. For the frontiers of ‘my’ life are in fact ever more permeable than I am wont to think, and its area much smaller.