Comments on: Defining simplicity

By: Vanessa H.

Vanessa H. — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:00:38 +0000

I really like Richard Gregg’s quote of Gandhi. That is something I have struggled with for years. We have to remind ourselves that the goal is not to get rid of all our worldly possessions; the goal is to get rid of the things we don’t love and that don’t contribute to our happiness!

By: On My Mind « Questions and Anchors

On My Mind « Questions and Anchors — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:26:14 +0000

[...] time- or whether I should send it on its way. These two posts are what I keep going back and forth between. Additionally, with regard to the first, I don’t necessarily agree- at all- with [...]

By: Top 12 Posts on How To Simplify Your Life — CrystalsQuest Crystals Quest

Top 12 Posts on How To Simplify Your Life — CrystalsQuest Crystals Quest — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:50:36 +0000

[...] Defining Simplicity (Unclutterer.com) – Some guiding principles [...]

By: KoreyAusTex

KoreyAusTex — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:32:02 +0000

If you want simplicity you can have it, you just have to DESIRE it! I started years ago trying my best to clear attachments to “things” that weren’t useful tools (like my laptop, haha) because if it doesn’t serve a legitimate purpose, it serves as a accepted hindrance to your progress.

By: Health, Simplicity, Procrastination and Goals « Mush’s Blog

Health, Simplicity, Procrastination and Goals « Mush’s Blog — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:06:50 +0000

[...] Defining simplicity – Unclutterer [...]

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:59:18 +0000

Yes, simplicity is different for everyone! Love the various quotes–helps give me a different point of view.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:25:58 +0000

For years, I mistook simplicity for asceticism. The former was focusing what I want, the latter was denying what I want. Once I made the distinction, I embraced simplicity.

Being a hardcore yuppie, that’s meant driving the cool car, wearing the nice clothes, and owning nice things, and disregarding all the things that aren’t part of that lifestyle.

It’s been liberating to tell myself it’s okay to be me. It’s my authentic self, whether others like it or not (and most don’t). Life’s too short to NOT pursue what you want.

By: Robin Mohr

Robin Mohr — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 05:13:18 +0000

This is my favorite definition of simplicity: “Outwardly, simplicity is shunning superfluities of dress, speech, behavior, and possessions, which tend to obscure our vision of reality. Inwardly, simplicity is spiritual detachment from the things of this world as part of the effort to fulfill the first commandment: to love God with all of the heart and mind and strength. The testimony of outward simplicity [among Quakers] began as a protest against the extravagance and snobbery which marked English society in the 1600's. In whatever forms this protest is maintained today, it must still be seen as a testimony against involvement with things which tend to dilute our energies and scatter our thoughts, reducing us to lives of triviality and mediocrity. Simplicity does not mean drabness or narrowness but is essentially positive, being the capacity for selectivity in one who holds attention on the goal. Thus simplicity is an appreciation of all that is helpful toward living as children of the Living God.” North Carolina Yearly Meeting (conservative), of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

By: Bunny’s TMI » Blog Archive

Bunny’s TMI » Blog Archive — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:13:57 +0000

[...] quote (via Unclutterer) really speaks to [...]

By: Mletta

Mletta — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:47:35 +0000

Tammy, you said it all. Perfectly.

Simplicity is both an internal and external “job.” A lot of folks concentrate on one or the other, believing, sometimes correctly, that one will influence the other in a positive fashion.

But life really is an inside job. Sometimes all the de-cluttering and streamlining on a material level is a huge distraction from doing the internal work. (You can spend a lot of time “simplifying” if you’re not careful!)

Loved the quote from Ghandi. I feel liberated at last about my books.

I’m a book person and seriously, I would not want to NOT have a life that did not include my collection. (And the only things I care about when I’m gone, are the books, which I want donated or given away to those who will value them.)

I think, for me, the definition of “simplicity” focuses on organizing one’s life, environment and actions so that they serve our higher purposes. Free us up to live the lives we really want. Spend time with people we love. Do things we really want to do.

Simplifying is a lot like taking good care of yourself physically. You do it so you have the energy you need/want to enjoy your life.

No more. No less.

By: Loren

Loren — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:52:06 +0000

I love that last quote, I’ve been doing a good bit of uncluttering but felt guilty every time I looked at my collection of comic books and graphic novels that fills a couple shelves in my bed room and I hadn’t been able to part with any at ALL.
But, all of these books do make me a happy. I DO look back through them and enjoy looking through them, and as of right now I don’t feel like they are taking up an unreasonable amount of space.
I know that I am not going for a ‘minimalist’ home so I have no problem keeping around these items that give me joy.

By: Khürt Williams

Khürt Williams — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:50:10 +0000

I think the quote attributed to Ghandhi in your article sums up my feelings on simplicity. Simplicity for me means living with ease. In the first months of our lives we did nothing but eat, sleep and poop. I realize everything else in my life is of my choosing. I brought it into being.

By: tammy

tammy — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:12:25 +0000

in addition to living simply, there is the idea of contentment. serenity. sometimes we need to be content when things are not simple, until they can be simple again. a streamlined outer life isn’t simple if our minds are full of worry. and conversely, we can have a serene mind in the middle of chaos. not that i would choose it, but sometimes it chooses us for a season.

By: nicole 86

nicole 86 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:50:01 +0000

The third one works well for me. As my husband decided a few months ago to repudiate me and asked me to leave the house we have been living for 30 years, I was guided to leave behind quite a lot of sentimental stuff and I had to part with my numerous books. I had to make a drastic choice and decided to keep only the few things I needed to begin a new life, they are not many. I took photos of a few items but I have not watched them yet. I just miss my trees !
As weeks go by I declutter more and more items.Except for work books ( I will sold them as soon as I get retired) I just cling to 80 of them, I haven’t any DVD and just about 25 CDs.
As for plates and cutlery I only keep and use the most beautiful ones. Simplicity has some thing to do with Beauty.
There is one exception : luggage ! I crave for a series of expensive suitcases and I don’t feel guilty about it.

Please forgive my English, I’m French.

By: Jacinta

Jacinta — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:40:07 +0000

I won’t define simplicity but simple living, for me, is actually a process. I didn’t aim for simplicity, I just aimed for something less complex than it was at the time. Once I felt I’d achieved that, I lived it for a while, then I simplified it a bit more. Lived it a while, simplified again… and again, and again. I’m far from simplicity, yet I’m far further along towards it than I’d have imagined three years ago and happy with what I’ve given up, rather than seeing it as a sacrifice towards a simpler life.

I guess I see it a bit like dieting. You can go on a rampage, doing something extreme, but you’ll yo-yo back again. But by basic, long lasting changes to your eating/buying patterns you’ll end up trimmer.