My life is leading me to a place where simplicity is a core value. I was really tired of everything being so complicated. I believed that I had a complicated nature and therefore a complicated life. But what really happened was that I resisted the flow of life and I tried to forcibly direct it somewhere I thought was better. But what do I know about the plan of my soul? My mind knows nothing about it for sure.
Over time, I’ve noticed that the theme of simplicity began to appear more often in my life. Not only because I was tired of the complications, but also because I needed some point in my life that would make sense to me.
I was curious about what others think simple living is and the answers are…bit complicated. It seems, that living simply is more complicated than it looks. Do we have to reduce everything and have blank page houses? Are we allowed to travel? Or eat something that is not km 0? Can we use plastics or do we need everything wooden and local?
Aren’t those restrictions and boxes what make our life difficult? The seeking for perfection that cannot be fulfilled?
I believe that simplicity is more about being happy with what we have, where we stay, and who is around us. Sometimes it’s hard to appreciate our situation. We still think about something better, but we forget to enjoy the present moment. Maybe you are now where you wanted to be but you even didn’t realize it. Or maybe it’s completely the opposite and you realize that you wasted your time meeting the invented requirements.
When people remember someone fondly, it’s because he was a good person. Because they had a good time together, or he helped them in difficult times. It’s definitely not because he was a manager in the bank.
There are people that still remember the house of my husband’s grandmother. There is a small kitchen and an even smaller hall, that was always full of people: family members, friends, and neighbors. Everyone who stopped for a chat over a cup of coffee was welcomed with open arms. I can see the smile on their face when they talk about it..and some tears in their eyes, because those times are over. And I can assure you, that that house is far away from being perfect. But it doesn’t matter, because people just simply feel good inside.
Restrictions are never simple
Simple living is very often connected to minimalism, ecology, plant-based local diet, self-sufficiency, and temperance. But if we focus our lives on love, humility, and respect for others, then everything else will follow. We can understand that being rich, for example, is a possible path but certainly not everyone’s goal. The inner peace and happiness come from inside. It doesn’t depend on how many houses or clothes we have. Consumerism is a dead end. Actually, it leads us into a deep abyss.
Consumerism is built on pointing out what you lack. Maybe you are not beautiful, thin, successful, or trendy enough. Unless you buy more stuff. And that’s why it’s a bottomless abyss, you can’t refill what you are missing with the stuff. Because all those things I named before are only opinions, they are not based on truth.
I’ve heard about some cultures where people keep their life so simple that they have only one table, one bowl, one spoon, and the same few pieces of clothing. When they die, people burn everything, so nothing will be left of them. This definitely talks about highly spiritual people who are focusing on raising their level of consciousness rather than material goods. But I think that there is nothing bad about enjoying material things. After all, it’s one of the reasons why we are here. We just have to be careful to remember to feed and nourish also our spiritual side.
It’s essential to buy new stuff because there is someone behind who needs to feed his family and, for sure, he put all his heart into creating. And, honestly, things get broken, and sometimes we don’t appreciate the choices of previous people (yes, I’m talking about furnishings from the 80’). But let’s choose wisely. We can select local and seasonal food. Let’s make more gardens, even little ones in the courtyards or balconies. Why do we have so much concrete everywhere?
Every time we buy something from a real person, it’s a confirmation to her (or him) that what she is doing has meaning. Like when we are on vacation. We don’t go to the shopping mall to buy a ceramic mug. We visit the local artists. And I’m pretty sure that this mug we will have for our whole life and every time we will drink from it, our heart will smile.
It’s the same for everything else. What if we recycle and upcycle old long-lasting stuff, and the rest buy consciously, supporting farmers, artists, and crafters?
Simple but not so simple clothes
I’ve noticed that a lot of fashion designers, especially the “local and conscious” ones, are complaining that people choose fast fashion clothes over theirs. So I took a look at what they are selling. Let’s not talk about the price, that is actually the main reason why someone chooses fast fashion.
The clothes I saw were very similar in many ways and they had one main thing in common – they weren’t wearable. They have special geometric cuts or are very eccentric. These clothes are (maybe) for celebrities, but not for real people. I look in vain for a store where I can buy nice and timeless clothes that would not cost an astronomical amount but are of good quality materials and made under fair conditions. Whether we are talking about workers or the environment. But it’s not easy these days. A lot of companies pretend to be fair but in reality, they only change the name and production is the same.
I’ve already thought about making them by myself, but I am really bad at measuring and cutting fabrics (really I am), even though I come from a family of fabric makers. Grandfather of my mom had a fabric company, he made excellent quality fabric on the weaving machine. The tradition didn’t continue, since he was too authoritarian and a hard worker (and my family members didn’t appreciate this way of being). But we still use sheets he made, they have about 50 years. Everyone from my family could knit socks, embroider beautiful flowers, repair any clothes, or make one. Who knows who will teach this tradition to our kids? Since my generation is already out..
I’m going to search for the seamstress :-)).
In the meanwhile, I will go to the second-hand store, again.
Crafters can’t be minimalists
Everyone, except for the Tibetan monks, who live in the countryside, can agree that being minimalist it’s clearly impossible. We always need some tools to repair this and that, we create new water systems, and build houses,..but you know what, it’s ok. Since we keep it under control, well organized, and not creating dumps.
When I came to the place where I stay now with my family, there was a mess (well, still is). Family of my husband was not rich and they used to use whatever they could find to create a fence or anything. It took me about 2 years to remove all rusty tubes, iron wires, plastic ribbons, and all kinds of re-used stuff. While I was cleaning it I realized that you can’t clean something, you just move it from one place to another one. From our garden to the trash bin, and then? To the dump somewhere else, where we can’t see it.
I heard that every single thing should be created with 3 attributes – beauty, usefulness, and energy glow. I’m pretty sure ancient people did this naturally. Because behind every single thing was one real person who did her best job. They didn’t have mass production of garbage single-use non-sense things.
Yesterday, I saw a picture of the guy whose job was every evening turn on the light on every lamp. Thinking about his life, I realized that people before were living their mission in life. Whether they choose it themselves or continue the trade of their parents. They took care of and were proud of their job. We don’t live like this anymore. We work somewhere to make money, but we don’t care about that place or the people there.
Let’s focus on upcycling old stuff, re-using materials, and creating something new with what we already have. Instead of creating always brand-new stuff, and exploiting nature, including people and animals. We forgot that we are part of nature, we are not excluded. It’s not Nature and then us. This you can understand more living in the countryside, cities have really strong boundaries that protect everyone from anything natural.
I like to use simple manual tools. In the garden and in the kitchen. They require time and force, but they last forever. One hoe doesn’t need fuel, batteries, or electric power.
When I used to work as a copywriter I wrote articles and reviews about very expensive kitchen devices. I had them at home and I could use them as I wanted. I swear that I used them only time when I was writing an article. For the rest of the time, they stayed on the kitchen counter. When I stopped working for this company (due to the birth of my daughter) they asked me if I wanted to keep all items. And I sent it all back.
They do all job very easily and quickly, but then you spent the rest of the time cleaning them. Then I can’t support that noise. The older I get, the more silence I need.
I would like to mention, that it doesn’t necessarily mean living like 100 years ago. We need to go forward. But it’s up to us which path we will take.
Coming back to our own roots
When working with the soil, we understand that everything that nourishes us is our past, and everything that grows is our future. And it’s our present that matters if we can use these sources and help it to live and grow. We can see cycles of life, we know what the exact moon phase is and we feel upcoming weather. Creating a garden requires a lot of manual work and a lot of time. But it’s a really nice time to spend. Working in the fresh air will tone your body and also mind.
Growing our own food we understand how precious every single piece of fruit is. I love to cook from scratch, it gives me the joy of creating. It’s making something for your loved ones (including you) that can be enjoyed in every sense. When I used to live alone in an apartment in Prague, I cooked every evening. One friend told me:” I don’t understand why you are still cooking if then it’s only you to eat it. I just take a slice of bread and spread some butter on it, and that’s all. Done in 5 minutes.” The answer was simple, I enjoyed doing that. Learn new skills, try new recipes, and explore unknown tastes. And then, what I would do instead? I lived in a very small apartment and I didn’t have space for my artistic creativity. So I would watch tv series? From my point of view consuming tv is more wasting time than creating something. And, of course, I wanted to feed my body with good food, it’s my task to take care of it.
There are 24 hours a day for all of us. But it’s only up to us how we will use them. Growing our own food, inviting friends or family to eat something good, spending time alone in nature, taking care of animals…there are thousands of simple things that can make our hearts smile.
Living in a simple way means enjoying every little moment and every little thing. Because from them we create our whole life. It’s about being amazed by life and everything new what we can learn and old what we can use. Nourishing our soul same as our body.
Simple but not easy.