Thoughts on Simplicity

Taking the time to slow down and awake your thoughts is a good thing but something that has become highly under rated. Our modern society has become so concern with tangible productivity, we often ignore the barely noticed but more important act of just being.

I was totally engrossed in a book the other day. I had been reading it steadily all afternoon between seeing to the laundry, breaking up squabbles and general household stuff. This book is good, I mean, can't put it down but must get dinner on the stove good.

I loathed to put it down. I did so reluctantly and as I set about to peel potatoes I was trying to conjure a way to prop the book up so I could read and peel at the same time. It took a moment before I realized what a bad idea it was. I don't know about you but I would be apt to slice a digit if I were not watching my fingers. So I abandoned my book, saying a sweet, "I'll see you later" and started the very menial task of peeling potatoes.

I was making Sheppard's pie with the last of the supermarket beef, and so I had double the amount of potatoes to peel than normal. The prospect of spending so much time watching my fingers peel potatoes, a normal, everyday occurrence, was disheartening. As I peeled I thought about how peeling the lowly potato is often viewed as drudgery. A common punishment long ago was peeling potatoes. Sure the task is repetitive. It certainly isn't exciting.

I peeled and thought, and peeled and thought.

Perhaps it is being alone with ones' thoughts that has their skin crawling. As a society we spend so much time trying to save time and then what do we do with it? Fill it of course. The average person allows themselves no time to be alone with their thoughts. Minds are always racing. To do lists are etched in our brains. Standing at the counter cutting potatoes is far less productive than say... surfing the internet.

If we truly allow ourselves the freedom to think about our dreams, our reflections, our actions (past and present) we can often come to deep conclusions about what we really think and feel about things. I imagine our modern society's preoccupation with busy-ness is deeply rooted in our fear of our thoughts. If we stood there for ten minutes peeling potatoes what would we think about? Would we like it? Would our thoughts make us uncomfortable? Upset? Ashamed?

In my view living deliberately is about getting to the center of our souls. Being present in the moment, peeling potatoes is just as valid an activity as reading a book, and just as valid as any number of the busy tasks we assign ourselves. This week, slow down, enjoy your moments where you become lost in thought and see where they will take you.

---- for anyone interested, the book I am reading is Less is More, by Cecile Andrews and Wanda Urbanska. It's a collection of essays from a number of "experts" in Voluntary Simplicity (if there ever could be an expert on such a thing). I have been reading it daily, and dubbed it my daily devotional for all the wisdom I pull from it's pages. A very good read. Like I said, I couldn't put it down.