Living Simply
Between the rivers of urban traffic and the cool streams of nirvana is a middle ground.
More is expected of us than ever before. Within the home, each person takes on multiple roles that were once spread out through the extended family - homemaker, breadwinner, parent, cook, head of household - stretching an individual to his or her limits. When stress reaches unbearable levels, we may entertain ideas of chucking it all and running off to Walden Pond or a Himalayan mountaintop where "wireless" means nothing to wire and the only cells are those that nature provided in the birds and the bees. This impulse to flee a changing world is nothing new, sages of the past from Plato to Confucius, have advised about returning to simplicity.
By taking a good look at one's lifestyle and the conflicts that have arisen through one's habits, some important but subtle shifts can be made that bring about a more simplified life. The repercussions making these changes extend from one's inner spiritual life to interpersonal relationships to the global environment.
Spending a few minutes calming the mind and taking note of one's emotions helps slow down complicated thinking that often creates negative reactions. Even trying for a few seconds a day - stopping and looking at how your mind is racing, judging, conceptualizing - and noticing the noise it creates, is a great beginning. Eventually seconds may become minutes and the chain reaction begins. By developing inner quiet and compassion, one's relationships become less stormy. Making economic changes, introducing skillful management and reducing one's cravings, slows down the frenzied cycle of consumption. In turn, consuming less means living lighter on the land which creates a balance in your environment both immediate and far reaching.
Sometimes trees need pruning in order to continue blossoming. Find the heavy boughs that are weighing down your life and give yourself a healthy trim, We cannot stop evolutionary and societal change, but if we are in complete control to change ourselves and when we do this, our relationship to everything around us begins to change.
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