The Art of Simplicity
“Simplicity Is The Highest Sophistication´´ Leonardo da Vinci
The Art of Simplicity is developed by an acquired loathing of complexity. I obviously love complicated things. The mental labyrinth of a Bach Fugue captured my imagination in my teen years and sense then I have loved the puzzles that keep my mind occupied. In contrast my recent involvement in eastern philosophy and a Buddhist way of not thinking have shown me the importance of emptying the mind of all of the mental cobwebs built by the spiders of thoughts. These cobwebs of thoughts catch mostly the bugs of worldly trivialities and rarely the sweet fruits of inspiration.
Simplicity Creates Sanity
Simplicity is the gateway to a healthy mental state. The only way to be simple is to have very little, so you have very little to organize and maintain. This gives you clarity and peace of mind. When I walk into a room where there is stuff everywhere I feel overwhelmed. So in my own four walls, every piece of clutter buries me deeper into the hole of eternal misery. I loathe every piece of unnecessary garbage.
The ultimate challenge to simplicity is being able to focus on one thing. I have been trying to focus on several things and it just won’t work. I thought that I could focus on this for 3 hours, that for 4 hours and the other thing for 3 hours and then be done. But the truth is, you really can’t do that. Because the mind works on problems 24/7 and when you are trying to focus on 3 different things at once, the mind isn’t quite sure what problems to solve while in sub-conscious mode.
Simplicity Letting Go Of Some Things We Love
Simplicity means holding one tool and using it. Insanity would be like holding a drill in one hand, a buzz saw in the other and trying to hammer in nails at the same time. In order to work efficiently you have to put down all tools except the one you are using at the moment. When you are cutting boards with a buzz saw you mind has to simply confine itself to guiding that saw on it’s course, to be thinking about something else means losing fingers and a lot of pain. Life holds many opportunities and there are many things that seem like great ideas but in order to do anything with any success at all you have to put down the things that you love and concentrate on what is going to get you the results you want.
Starting Over Creates Simplicity
There comes a point in life when you just think it would be best to just start over. Starting over means exorcising yourself of all accumulation and by doing so regain simplicity in life. The new beginning you establish by making conscious choices that you truly want in your life. It is taking all of the mistakes you have made and putting them in the folder entitled education. Then you set up simple systems to organize your life so you understand your life and free your mind to work on the one thing that is important. Again, this means deciding to let go of a lot of things you love and are attached to. They are not gone from the world, but you no longer attempt to effect them.
It isn’t so simple to blog everyday and find something to say. My way is still too complicated. But, it is a work in progress. If you want to learn how to make money by simply blogging what you care about, click here and get to the video. The simplicity of this idea is what makes it so attractive. Have a good day!