Zen Habits posted this entry on how to find one's own way to the simple life. Some useful tips follow the introduction that I have posted here.Go read the rest of the post at Zen Habits.The Many Paths to Simplicity
“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” - Henry David Thoreau
In the comments of yesterday’s post on simplicity hacks, a few readers seemed to think I was prescribing a path to leading a simple life. That wasn’t my intent, and in fact, I think such a prescription is impossible.
There isn’t one way to simplicity — there are as many ways as there are people who seek a simple life.
What I was trying to do in that post was to provide a few tools for overcoming common obstacles along the way … tools you could use or disregard, depending on your personality and situation.
Today I’d like to explore what it means to lead a simple life, and how you can get there — or more accurately, the many paths to getting to the many destinations.
What is the Simple Life?
There is no single definition of simplicity. My vision of a simple life will be different than yours, or anyone else’s — and none of us is wrong.
I’ve read about someone living in a log cabin in Alaska, with no electricity or running water or television or Internet. They chop wood from the forest outside to burn for heat and cooking. They use water from a nearby stream for drinking and bathing. They walk or bike to town to go to the library or to use the Internet. That’s a pretty simple life by most definitions — but when I talk about leading a simple life, I don’t mean you need to live in a log cabin in the woods — I certainly don’t.
I’ve also seen photos of pretty expensive houses, decorated in a very minimalist fashion, spartan in their simplicity, but also decorated with expensive furniture. These houses are gorgeous, and their minimalist interiors are extremely attractive … but it takes a lot of money to get to that point. This is one kind of simplicity, but it’s not for everyone.
I’ve also read about people who live extremely frugally, rarely buying new items, making things last as long as possible, re-using plastic bags and bottles, growing food in a garden, buying things second-hand in thrift shops when necessary. This kind of frugality is one kind of simplicity, and to some extent I use many of these ideas myself. But it’s not the kind of simplicity for everyone.
So what’s my idea of a simple life? Again, this isn’t what you need to shoot for, and it’s not even what you need to agree with. We can each have our own vision. My idea is that I make room in my life for the essentials — the things I love to do and the people I love to be with. I remove the non-essentials as much as possible, and leave a life that isn’t overwhelmed with tasks and projects and errands, but has space … space for what I want to do, and space between things. So that I can live a peaceful life, move slowly, work happily, and spend time with the people I care most about.
This might mean that I live frugally (so that I can work less, or save for what’s important), or it might mean that I sometimes splurge, because life is too short not to enjoy things while you can. I find ways to enjoy myself without spending money, but at the same time I am not afraid to treat myself and my family now and then.
What’s your idea of a simple life? It’s almost certainly different than mine. And that’s good — we don’t want cookie-cutter approaches here. We want something that makes sense to each individual person, that fits their personalities and dreams and life situations.
Think about what your idea of a simple life is, so that you can find your path to get there.
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