friday thoughts: simplicity
“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
–Coco Chanel
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been thinking a lot about “stuff” recently. I have a lot of stuff and I love all of it. Between us Himself and I have over 1000 CDs. I have more clothes than I should, most of them black and most of them very similar. And no matter how many books I give away more just…. appear. There are guitars and amps, a keyboard, a huge squashy purple sofa and two balls of fur that claim to be cats…. (and yes mum, I’m aware there’s cupboards full of my stuff at your house too…I’m working on it!)
I can’t imagine my life right now without all this. I don’t want to not have a TV, hair straighteners or glitter. Life without them doesn’t feel like simplicity to me, it feels like aestheticism, like that dude who stood on a pole for years to prove his love of God. I wrote about him in my undergraduate dissertation, but that’s a whole other story.
It’s not that the stuff itself makes me happy, I’m not that naive. And there’s the important distinction. There’s nothing wrong with having the stuff, with watching trashy soaps, with coveting straight hair, but the stuff does not help in my pursuit of contentment. Ultimately though (and perhaps somewhat ironically) what I have around me is part of the life I have cultivated for myself. For us. And I like my life. It’s where contentment lies.
That’s not to say that I don’t want a simple life. I do. I strive for it. Because simplicity to me has nothing to do with the stuff around me. It’s to do with the stuff that’s in my head. To me simplicity isn’t about getting rid of things – at the end of the day things are neither here nor there. To me simplicity is about not thinking too much, not overanalysing, letting go and allowing things to just be – Ishvara Parnidhara.
As long as my physical stuff, those things that make me comfortable, don’t distract me from the pursuit of simplification of the mind, or distract my thoughts elsewhere, then they become just a part of the life I want to live right now.
After making the ultimate sacrifice and sacking the car in January, I think I’ll carry on loving my stuff.
All that sitting around thinking too much though, that can definitely get sent to charity!! 
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That said I am intending to embark on two little projects in the near future. In my year of mindfulness I need to stay aware of what I have and how I use it and that includes my time. So first up I’ll be trying to work out where some of my time goes and give some of that time back to myself a la this post from Kimberly Wilson. Secondly in an attempt to see how many of those oodles of clothes I have I actually miss I will also be taking part in Heather’s Six Things project. Apparently accessories, underwear, outerwear, shoes and workout gear don’t count, so this could be a lot more fun than you’d think!
I won’t be starting either of these until September for reasons that will become abundantly clear over the next few weeks, so more then!
13 Responses to “friday thoughts: simplicity”
The other side of simplifying your life is the environmental impact.
Where does all your stuff go?
You can send most of it to charity. Great, your conscience is clear. But there are strict guidelines around what charities can accept and then pass on to other people. You’d be surprised by just how much ends up going to landfill.
So is it a good thing to get rid? I’d rather see this “junk” lying around in garages and cupboards than in landfill.
Also, life is full of phases. Millions of people opt to simplify in their early twenties and go travelling with a backpack and then life gets in the way and by 30 they’ve re-accumulated all that stuff again. I’m not saying it’s right or 100% true, but it’s usually what happens for most. This means all your stuff gets dumped to charity and then landfill and then ten years later you go and re-purchase everything which is hitting the environment again with the resource strains. Sure you can buy from charity the second time round but most probably won’t.
Not swanning around in cars and planes and opting instead to set up home with stuff is far better for the environment and as Rachel points out, as long is it’s done without attachment then this is perfectly ok. Sure it’s a rite of passage in your twenties to travel but is it actually a right? Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
It’s a great concept in theory but it requires more thought.
Andy Pickup recently posted..Wordless Wednesday 7
I agree with you in that simplicity for me is not so much paring down what I don’t need in the physical world, but shedding myself of the old beliefs, old ways of thinking, and unhelpful behaviours that do not serve my highest good and make my life way more complicated than it otherwise would be!
green ink recently posted..things i love 28
I agree with you completely on this subject. I’ve tried to find some way to explain my love for books and CDs, mugs, teapots, scarves, etc. without it coming down to posession and materialism, and I just can’t, though I know that these aren’t the reasons I love my things so much. I guess my scarf, mug and book collection are a reflection of who I am, visual entities that point to ‘me’.
At the end of the day, it’s when posession becomes obsession that there’s a problem. We have books because we love to read, we have too many clothes because ourselves are reflected in what we wear, we have sofas because comfort is a great breeding ground for happiness; none of it is ‘display purpose only’, after all!
And I’m really excited to hear more about this mysterious thing that’s happening!!
Catherine recently posted..Running For Jane
good post, and I like the quote of the day
I can relate, Rachel! Right up to having stuff at my mom’s (and the fiance having stuff at HIS mom/grandma’s). Although I do need to purge some of my belongings (and I am mindful of Andy’s point), I like most of my things. I agree that it’s more an internal question than anything.
I can relate to that post too Rachel, though I am very conscious that decluttering at some point would do me (and my apartment that doesn’t get any bigger) good. I have trouble letting go of my books, because they’re, well, me. The ones I gave away to Oxfam were the ones I didn’t like and I knew I wouldn’t read them again. Simplicity is not found in the number of books or scarves or whatever things you like, it’s more a state of mind I think.
My partner is at home de-cluttering our house at the moment… I’m glad I’m not there because I’m terrible at throwing things away! Where’re I live it’s practically guaranteed that almost anything I give away will be re-used by someone… People in developing countries are so resourceful!
My partner is at home de-cluttering our house at the moment… I’m glad I’m not there because I’m terrible at throwing things away! Where’re I live it’s practically guaranteed that almost anything I give away will be re-used by someone… People in developing countries are so resourceful!
Physical experience facilitates spiritual experience — it’s what yoga is all about. If you can keep your mind and spirit clear with all that stuff around you, then more power to you, but I find that a spare, organized, and clean environment tends to reflect my state of mind, and vice versa.
just no attachment, right?
Emma recently posted..Sarah Powers Vinyasa Flow Video
Your thoughts are a very good counter balance to the minimalism trend which seems to have been picking up a lot of momentum. I don’t really see the point of getting rid of stuff just for the sake of having little stuff. Ultimately, it is about what works for us and our lives…
My personal benchmark for clutter is whether it’s tidy and neat and whether it can be kept tidy and neat with little work. If it can’t be neat and tidy, it’s clutter. I also think that there is a big difference between “I can do without” and “I don’t need”.
I get what you’re saying but I have that mindset of wanting less. I wonder how that affects me in other ways? I’m currently clearing my house of things I don’t need/no longer want, and planning on selling others that I can do without. There’s a part of me that always wants to be ready to move if I have to… probably because I’ve lived so many places in my life already.
But if I look around my already relatively meager possessions, there is some stuff I’d keep in storage should I take off somewhere again. But not too much of it. I’d sell most of my things without a second thought!
Svasti recently posted..Change with a sleight of hand
I agree whole-heartedly, Rachel! It’s about non-attachment and mindfulness, really, isn’t it? It’s interesting, I just read your post about living in the UK. America is so different and I am disgusted by the mass consumption and midLESSness all around me. It makes me super sad and I feel that if I am not vigilant in my efforts, then I’m part of the problem instead of the solution. Andy’s response was right-on too! There are so many things to consider and the answers are not simple.
Heather recently posted..Whole Perfect Complete
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