Simplifying Life

Why do people always have the need to accumulate things, to keep useless objects because they think one day they might be needed, or to travel around with eighty percent of clothes they will never wear?

Maybe people could be as the birds that migrate counting only on their instincts and the confidence that they will find everything they need.

No doubt, the search for simplicity is not easy in a capitalist world, where buying is the order of the day. However, even when being part of this kind of society, everybody can try moderation in their actions, especially by not buying on impulse. It is always possible to take a walk or wait until the next day before making a decision.

Probably fifty percent of our purchases would be avoided with this measure alone. It is also important to learn how to buy better things, as well as to give away what is no longer used. This way people can establish a limit in their wardrobes as well in their homes.

Empty spaces are very important as a decoration element. Pay attention to this – empty spaces give value to objects and bring a sensation of peace. On the other hand, cluttered spaces are stressful.

Another important reason to buy less is the possibility of saving money, not only for security reasons, but also because saving allows to fulfill dreams, to travel, study, and for self improvement.

But simplifying life presupposes simplifying the mind. Or could it be the opposite? When people organize and simplify things they change their mental state. Organizing starts by relaxing the mind wich bring flexiblility to let the river of life flow without the need of controlling everything all time. This doesn’t mean to live without direction. It means to define a direction and walk towards it with smoothness, certainty and serenity.

Very often people feel stressed and fail to stop for an instant to give new order to things, to find an exit. But to stop, to be quiet and in silence for a few moments in order to feel life should be a part of their routine, since otherwise they are living in a frenetic rhythm and have no time to notice things – not even the very good ones.

Simplifying means also to remember to come back to the centre, to say no to the thousand-and-one superfluous things that call out to the attention all time. This is almost a lost knowledge in a society where “time is money”. This belief is so strong that people come to feel guilty when they are doing nothing.

So, people who are always in a hurry or who have lost inner contact, should try to stay for a while far away from television, computers or anything that distances them from their interior space, and stay there – in this peaciful place – some minutes each day. Then they can look for simplicity, remembering that simple doesn’t mean less, it means intelligent!