Simplify: make (something) simpler or easier to understand
Simple: 1. easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty
Week 3 of Soul Blossoming A to Z!
–today’s letter in the A to Z blogging challenge. It’s one of my favorite letters–maybe because my name (Susan) has 2 of them in it, but also, I like “s” because it’s sinuous–and its sound can be continoussssssssss.
(haha–a very tiny little poem for a Monday evening)
Simplify–a favorite topic!
And simplicity is one of my favorite topics and strivings. I’ve studied, taught and written about Simplicity Parenting (by Kim John Payne) and also shared my thoughts on Why Simplify?
and also about how simplifying is like finding the angel in the marble–finding what’s true and essential to sculpt a life you love.
What constitutes a simple life differs for every person and changes over time, as well. Personally, I know I have a tendency to complexify (is that a word?). I like to be busy and I have many and varied interests. It makes me happy to pursue many of them at once, and I also cycle through some of them and let them rest for a while. As a side note, I felt very excited last year when I found the blog Puttylike, which is all about multipotentialites–like me. I always felt there was something wrong with me because I liked to do lots of different things–and didn’t like to do just one thing for long.
Simplifying doesn’t just mean getting rid of stuff
We can look at all aspects of our lives and see what “sparks joy”–stuff is definitely part of that, but so is our schedule, our media exposure, our daily rhythm, to name a few.
In my life, the variety of activities may make my life seem less simple, and perhaps it is less simple than other people’s. But that’s not what’s important about simplifying–at least not to me. What I find important is —
- being able to find what I’m looking for in my house
- being able to keep my house relatively clean (I’m not overly picky, as my mother will tell you, but having less stuff definitely helps me keep my house cleaner)
- having the supplies I want and need to do my creative work, cooking, etc.
- **having time and energy to do what’s important to me–those things that make my soul blossom!***
I realized a while back that artists and crafters need to have more stuff around–writing these days just requires a computer, but to spin, crochet, paint and whatever else strikes my fancy, I need a certain amount of stuff to do it with.
When I lived in my house (as opposed to my condo and apartments), it seemed like a good idea to make really big paintings–4′ by 6′ or so. I really enjoyed working big, but moving those big paintings and finding a place to put them has been challenging. And yet I’m not ready to get rid of them (although I have thought about trying to sell them–maybe one of these days!)
I feel for the first time in my adult life–as far as I can remember–that I have the right amount of stuff (more or less–it’s always a work in progress). That makes me happy!
What about you–do you think about simplifying? Have you done some already? Have you done as much as you want? What areas of life would you like to simplify?
Happy Monday! And thanks for stopping by. xoxo
Love this Susan. And I think my relationship with simplifying IS sinuous – undulating one direction and then another. Like you I think I lean towards “complexifying” and always must have multiple projects going on – I feed of the synergy and cross-pollination that allows. But it’s definitely a dance to keep things in comfortable balance. I’m always watching for that tipping point that turns things from thrilling creative passion into a sense of too much overwhelm where I feel like the only solution might be to sweep my arm across the table and clear it all off, and begin again. Simple until it’s not. Rinse and repeat.
Exactly. One woman’s simple is another woman’s complex, I think. I’ve finally given up the idea that I’ll be finished simplifying one day. And I’m finding that the ongoingness of it is part of the fun