Keep it Simple…
“Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more.” ― John Kabat-Zinn
Sometimes we simplify our lives by choice, but more often than not, I think life happens to force us to slow down, simplify and focus on what matters.
The official arrival of fall next week signals a time of letting go and making space to help us embrace a simpler way of work and life that can support us through times of illness, transition, or anxiety about the future.
One benefit of simplifying our lives that we might not initially think of is noted by Hans Hofmann below:
“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” –Hans Hofmann
“…so that the necessary may speak.” In times of rapid change and turmoil in the world, perhaps the most important reason to simplify is to make space for a clearer signal between ourselves and the Divine or our highest self.
What wisdom or life-affirming activities do you need to clear space for? What is necessary to let go of so what really matters flourishes?
May you find the courage to let go of what stands in the way of what really matters.
“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.” ―Lin Yutang
Three Things
I have just three things to teach:
simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and in thoughts,
you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, translation by Stephen Mitchell
