Simple

If you want to be free, learn to live simply.

Use what you have and be content where you are. Quit trying to solve your problems by moving to another place, by changing mates or careers.

Leave your car in the garage. If you have a gun, put it away. Sell that complex computer and go back to using pencil and paper. Rather than read every new book that comes along, reread the classics.

Eat good food grown locally. Wear simple, durable clothing. Keep a small home, uncluttered and easy to clean. Keep an open calendar with periods of uncommitted time. Have a spiritual practice and let family customs grow.

Of course, the world is full of novelty and adventures. New opportunities come along every day.

So what?

from: The Tao of Leadership, John Heider

The Voluntary Simplicity Movement

Seems that I have company in my quest to simplify life and distill what's important. Good article in today's NYT about a number of families who are doing the same thing. According to the article, we owe some debt to the hippies of the '60s. No doubt... and in a strange way we also owe a debt to the current and coming energy crisis which is forcing us to re-think our priorities and how we live our lives. Maybe we even have George Bush to thank for all this. Feels like we are riding on a tidal wave of change these days, and change is what we make of it. Crisis and opportunity are two sides of the same coin, right?