The Truth about Simplicity
In thinking about and dissecting simplicity, I’ve come up with a few things that I know to be true. Simplicity has become a force in my life with benefits and habit changes that I couldn’t have imagined from the start.
When I started my journey into simplicity by eating less meat, I had no idea that I would:
- become a vegetarian
- pay off debt
- practice yoga
- make new friends
- give away stuff (lots of stuff)
- quit my job
- have a happier marriage
- have fewer than 33 items in my wardrobe
- sell my car
- do work I love
- write books
- travel
- live more fully
I didn’t expect it, but that is exactly what happened. And because that happened and awesome things continue to happen, I love writing and talking about how to live more simply.
Simple Truths
Simplicity is not a sacrifice.
Living with less is not a project in suffering, but instead a way to discover what is most important. Sometimes, the only way to figure out what is really important in your life is to get rid of everything that isn’t.
Simplicity doesn’t look the same for everyone.
Simplicity might mean growing your own food and living off the land, or downsizing and renting a small apartment in the city close to public transportation and a grocery store. There are lots of versions in between too and the best version is the one that makes your life better.
Simplicity will change you.
While many changes work from the inside out, simplicity has a powerful way of working from the outside in. It provides the opportunity to remove the layers and connect with what is most important.
Simplicity will make you more open-minded.
Once you see how easy it is, and how much happier you are living an unconventional lifestyle, you will become more open to change, uncertainty, and new ways of improving your life and the lives around you.
Simplicity is not a competition.
Being more or less simple than anyone else doesn’t matter. Simplicity challenges like living with less than 100 things or dressing with less than 33 are experiments and sometimes tools to help you see the power of less. They can be fun challenges, but the numbers don’t really matter. This is your life.
Simplicity supports loving relationships.
Living more simply invites you to slow down and be more attentive and loving. If you notice that your relationships are challenged because you want to live more simply than they do, step back and focus on love. Fighting about decluttering is just as damaging as fighting about clutter.
Simplicity demonstrates happiness with less.
I’ve learned that more attracts more and less attracts less when it comes to stuff and clutter and things you think you must have. If you ask most people what they really want from life and work their first answer is not more money, a bigger house, or a new car. Instead they want health, happiness, time, security, love, respect, satisfaction, inspiration, and less stress. None of those things are available at the mall or through any material purchase.
Ironically, there are many more simple truths about living with less. Your journey can be inspired by other people sharing stories of simplicity, but ultimately you will find a version of simplicity that best fits your life. Find your simplicity and share your story to inspire others.
What one simple truth have you discovered?
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A broad spectrum of interests makes for shallow endeavors. Narrowing your scope tends to allow deeper understanding, relationships, knowledge, wisdom, expertise, etc.
Your journey is a great, modern example of Thoreau’s writings on simplicity. For instance, he once opined, “Beware of any enterprise that requires new clothes.” And there you are, loving project 333
Thanks Colin!
I love that you point out simplicity is not a competition. Sometimes it seems people are tempted to measure or track just how minimalist they are, and in the process I believe the simplicity of the simple life is lost.
exactly! I’m all for challenges in living more simply but not when they become counterproductive.
I love your blog. While I’m still very dependent on my car, I wish I wasn’t. An over cluttered life keeps us distracted from what’s important. Simplicity is like the rabbit hole to being human again. Although I’m open to way more then I was before, the uncertainty at times can be a bit nerve racking! Whew!
One step at a time.
I think a lt of people get defensive, when they don’t really understand what voluntary simplicity is. “But I entertain a lot–I like having eight plates!” is something I hear a lot of. So, then having eight plates should be a part of their lifestyle. There’s no right or wrong way to live intentionally. It’s a mindset, not a list of rules.
“While many changes work from the inside out, simplicity has a powerful way of working from the outside in. It provides the opportunity to remove the layers and connect with what is most important.”
YES. I was so enamoured with the idea of minimalism but just couldn’t see how decluttering my kitchen would lead to significant personal change. Until I actually did it. And while a mindset shift needs to happen, it’s incredible how it becomes self-propelling so quickly.
I especially appreciate two of these points: Simplicity doesn’t look the same for everyone and it is not a competition.
I’ve gone from living in a 2700 square foot home stuffed with things, to a 450 square foot cottage with only the things I need in it.
I’ve had to start over again on a new Island, less than 1 1/2 years since the last time I started over on another Island. There’s a hard luck story that goes with it, but there’s also the fact that this time I really get to define what is important to me, and that’s where I spend my time.
Mahlao for sharing all of your simplicity over the last couple of years. It has been inspiring, especially in those times when things seemed really difficult.
I agree with all your points about the benefits of simplifying. The one that has most surprised me is your fourth point about open mindedness. More attracts more and less attracts less and changes no matter how small create ripples of further change.
It’s so true…One change leads to many others. The domino effect is really incredible when it comes to change. Motivation comes with simplicity, I have learned. It only took 40 years
Good things take time Tony!
Something I am having a hard time with is reducing the number of hair products and hygiene products that I have. I seem to accumulate 4-5 of each of the products without any rhyme or reason. I do not need four hair-sprays or four eye drop solutions. Yet, somehow I have accumulated them. I am working towards using up all of the product I have before buying anything new. It might seem small to someone else, but this is my clutter-nemesis. Wish me luck!
Good luck Brown Vagabonder.
And great post Courtney!
Thank you so much! I appreciate the support in the blogging community. It really helps me to keep on going despite setbacks and naysayers.
Thank you for this post – it is exactly what I needed to read today. I grew up in a house of hoarders an so am finding it hard to declutter, but know that it is the next step forward for me. Your blog is so inspiring and it’s good to see someone showing that simplicity doesn’t always equal ‘minimalism’ (in the traditional sense of the word).
Hi, Sandra linked to your blog, so I came over to visit. I have been “lurking” around the edges of consciously simplifying things in my home, so I was a bit nervous and also very excited to read several of your articles. I kept thinking, “I can do this!” So now I’m inspired to try. Baby steps, right? I look forward to reading more.
Wow, so many good “nuggets” of wisdom in this post! My favorites are “sometimes the only way to figure out what’s important in your life is to get rid of everything that isn’t” (I just transcribed it to my “quote book” on my desk, which I use for inspiration) and “simplicity is not a competition.” On that last point, I feel the same way about environmentalism (and wrote about it on my own blog last December), but it also can relate to so many areas of our lives–motherhood, parenting, activism, etc. We need to stay true to our own paths and not get caught up in how everybody else is doing on their paths. Thanks for such a wise and thought-provoking post. I just subscribed to your blog as a result!
I am a new reader and I really enjoyed this post. I find as I simplify my life I not only become happier, but I discover what truly makes me happy.
Kate