The Serenity of Simple Pleasures
Life is really simple,
but we insist on making it complicated.
- Confucius
If thou wilt make a man happy,
add not unto his riches but take away from his desires.
- Epicurus
To live a pure unselfish life,
one must count nothing as one's own
in the midst of abundance.
- The Buddha
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
What if happiness were found in the serenity of simple pleasures.
What if we didn't need the newest gizmo... the highest high?
What if happiness is in the air we breathe...
slowly, deeply, and consciously?
What if happiness is one fresh grape, savored with gratitude?
What if happiness is in our oneness with all creation?
What if happiness is about enjoying life exactly as it comes to us -
without chasing after it?
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Clutter in Life
How Your Clutter Is Costing You Money
Slide show:
http://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/everyday ... tmd#page=1
Just because you aren’t living like one of the people on TV’s “Hoarders” doesn’t mean your home is as organized as it could be. In fact, living with clutter can have a profoundly negative effect on your daily life and even cost you money.
Here are six surprising ways clutter could be costing you. They just might convince you to take the steps needed to declutter your living space once and for all.
Slide show:
http://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/everyday ... tmd#page=1
Just because you aren’t living like one of the people on TV’s “Hoarders” doesn’t mean your home is as organized as it could be. In fact, living with clutter can have a profoundly negative effect on your daily life and even cost you money.
Here are six surprising ways clutter could be costing you. They just might convince you to take the steps needed to declutter your living space once and for all.
The Art of Letting Go | The Minimalists | TEDxFargo
Published on Aug 24, 2016
How might your life be better with less? Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known to their 4 million readers as "The Minimalists," are the executive producers of MINIMALISM, the #1 indie documentary of 2016. They spoke at TEDxFargo about the benefits of letting go and living a meaningful life with less. For more info about The Minimalists visit http://theminimalists.com
Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known to their four million readers as “The Minimalists,” have written four books, including the bestselling memoir, Everything That Remains. They write about living a meaningful life with less stuff at TheMinimalists.com. Their new film, Minimalism, is currently the #1 documentary of 2016.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
VIDEO at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7rewjFNiys&app=desktop
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w7rewjFNiys
[/b]
Published on Aug 24, 2016
How might your life be better with less? Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known to their 4 million readers as "The Minimalists," are the executive producers of MINIMALISM, the #1 indie documentary of 2016. They spoke at TEDxFargo about the benefits of letting go and living a meaningful life with less. For more info about The Minimalists visit http://theminimalists.com
Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known to their four million readers as “The Minimalists,” have written four books, including the bestselling memoir, Everything That Remains. They write about living a meaningful life with less stuff at TheMinimalists.com. Their new film, Minimalism, is currently the #1 documentary of 2016.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
VIDEO at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7rewjFNiys&app=desktop
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w7rewjFNiys
[/b]
Marie Kondo: How to Choose Happiness
Turning Point: An executive at Ikea declared that the West has reached “peak stuff,” with people owning too many things.
The Japanese word “tokimeku” means “to spark joy.” Someone who is adopting my method of tidying must take a possession of hers and ask: “Does this spark joy for me?” This question is the sole basis for choosing what things to keep in one’s home and what to discard.
But can we apply this notion of sparking joy on a larger scale?
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/opini ... &te=1&_r=0
Turning Point: An executive at Ikea declared that the West has reached “peak stuff,” with people owning too many things.
The Japanese word “tokimeku” means “to spark joy.” Someone who is adopting my method of tidying must take a possession of hers and ask: “Does this spark joy for me?” This question is the sole basis for choosing what things to keep in one’s home and what to discard.
But can we apply this notion of sparking joy on a larger scale?
More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/opini ... &te=1&_r=0
My Year of No Shopping
Excerpt:
If you stop thinking about what you might want, it’s a whole lot easier to see what other people don’t have. There’s a reason that just about every religion regards material belongings as an impediment to peace. This is why Siddhartha had to leave his palace to become the Buddha. This is why Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor.” It’s why my friend Sister Nena, an 85-year-old Catholic nun, took a vow of poverty when she entered the convent at 18.
Sister Nena was my reading teacher when I was in the first grade, and in the years since, she has taught me considerably more. When I ask her if there’s anything she needs me to get for her, she shakes her head. “It’s all just stuff,” she says, meaning all of the things that aren’t God. If you’re in the market for genuine inspiration on this front, I urge you to read “Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship,” by Gregory Boyle, a book that shows what the platitudes of faith look like when they’re put into action.
The things we buy and buy and buy are like a thick coat of Vaseline smeared on glass: We can see some shapes out there, light and dark, but in our constant craving for what we may still want, we miss life’s details. It’s not as if I kept a ledger and took the money I didn’t spend on perfume and gave that money to the poor, but I came to a better understanding of money as something we earn and spend and save for the things we want and need. Once I was able to get past the want and be honest about the need, it was easier to give more of my money to people who could really use it.
For the record, I still have more than plenty. I know there is a vast difference between not buying things and not being able to buy things. Not shopping for a year hardly makes me one with the poor, but it has put me on the path of figuring out what I can do to help. I understand that buying things is the backbone of the economy and job growth. I appreciate all the people who shop in the bookstore. But taking some time off from consumerism isn’t going to make the financial markets collapse. If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution, I have to tell you: This one’s great
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/opin ... d=45305309
Excerpt:
If you stop thinking about what you might want, it’s a whole lot easier to see what other people don’t have. There’s a reason that just about every religion regards material belongings as an impediment to peace. This is why Siddhartha had to leave his palace to become the Buddha. This is why Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor.” It’s why my friend Sister Nena, an 85-year-old Catholic nun, took a vow of poverty when she entered the convent at 18.
Sister Nena was my reading teacher when I was in the first grade, and in the years since, she has taught me considerably more. When I ask her if there’s anything she needs me to get for her, she shakes her head. “It’s all just stuff,” she says, meaning all of the things that aren’t God. If you’re in the market for genuine inspiration on this front, I urge you to read “Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship,” by Gregory Boyle, a book that shows what the platitudes of faith look like when they’re put into action.
The things we buy and buy and buy are like a thick coat of Vaseline smeared on glass: We can see some shapes out there, light and dark, but in our constant craving for what we may still want, we miss life’s details. It’s not as if I kept a ledger and took the money I didn’t spend on perfume and gave that money to the poor, but I came to a better understanding of money as something we earn and spend and save for the things we want and need. Once I was able to get past the want and be honest about the need, it was easier to give more of my money to people who could really use it.
For the record, I still have more than plenty. I know there is a vast difference between not buying things and not being able to buy things. Not shopping for a year hardly makes me one with the poor, but it has put me on the path of figuring out what I can do to help. I understand that buying things is the backbone of the economy and job growth. I appreciate all the people who shop in the bookstore. But taking some time off from consumerism isn’t going to make the financial markets collapse. If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution, I have to tell you: This one’s great
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/opin ... d=45305309