Glory of expression

Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; 

it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.  

- George Sand 

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The ultimate sophistication

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

- Leonardo da Vinci

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A simply quiet life

Simplifying your life does not only mean cleaning out your cupboards, re-organising your store room or getting rid of excess stuff. All most of us want, is a quiet life. By that I don't mean you must not travel, be adventurous or have a busy life. I'm talking about having a quiet, peaceful mind, a mind that is at ease with where you are in life, that can handle whatever is thrown at you.

Decluttering our minds is one of the most important aspects of living a simple, fulfilled life. If your cupboards are neat and organised but your mind is still in a place of turmoil, you won't feel any better. We all have problems that arise in our lives and important decisions to make and problems are much easier to handle when we have inner peace.

Inner peace is obtained by taking a good look at what's going on in your life and deciding what is important and dumping all the rest. By clearing out "unnecessary" thoughts and problems, it leaves us space to deal with only that which is necessary. We often fill our minds with all sorts of irrelevant things which makes it impossible to see the big picture. 

If you're contemplating moving house, don't sweat the small stuff like, "where am I going to put this in the new place" or "I won't have space for my desk and computer" or "the new bathroom is so small". Life has a way of working out those small issues and we are all actually very adaptable beings. Once you've made a decision, just do what you have to do and the rest will fall into place.

Inner peace also comes from deciding which problems you can actually do something about and which you cannot help with except by giving constant support, like a friend or a family member that might be going through a difficult time. If the problem is of a financial nature and you can help, that's fine. If not, let it go and know that things happen as they must. To tell you the truth, you are not actually responsible for the rest of the Universe, even your own adult child, but love and support is something that we all have an abundance of and that's the best we can do.

All problems and decisions are the same - changing jobs, getting divorced, financial security, loss of a loved one - look at the big picture, let go of what you can and move on. Regrets and living in the past serves no purpose. All we have is now, tomorrow might never come, so let's do the best with NOW that we can.

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Enjoy...

... the simple things in life

An African pot filled with seed pods and a Pheasant feather - treasures found in nature. 

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Simple living - what does it mean?

Is the measure of a simple life how small your home is? Whether or not you have a yard? Whether or not you have money?

Living a simple life doesn't mean giving up all or any of your luxuries. It doesn't mean you have to live like a pauper and not enjoy art, books and travel or living in a beautiful, big home. It doesn't mean living in a small, cramped space. It doesn't mean that, if you have money, you must give it all away in order to "live the simple life."

Living simply is a state of mind. To me living a simple life simply means not having UNNECESSARY, not-beautiful or not-useful stuff in my life. It means cutting out useless, time-consuming activities that serve no purpose.

It doesn't mean doing nothing. It could even mean taking on extra activities, like planting your own vegetable garden, free of hormones, insecticides and pesticides and reducing your carbon footprint on our planet. Living simply means living with purpose, on purpose and being passionate about life.

Any time that is not spent on loving what you're doing is waste.

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