Friday, May 25, 2007

Sunday Scribbling: Simple

I was excited to see the prompt “Simple” when I peeked at Sunday Scribbling yesterday. I thought it’s something I could write a lot about simply because I am an advocate of simplicity. Yet I found myself having a hard time coming up with something. And my guess the culprit is this: I am trying up to come up with something profound, something that the readers would be compelled to “comment” on, something extraordinary…and then it hit me that it’s the opposite of what I am writing about. If the prompt is “simple”, why am I trying to make it complicated? Is it not enough to scribble the thoughts that come to mind? But no, I must make it complex…I must strive for eloquence…and then I thought, forget the “eloquence” part, just scribble now or you won’t have time later (yeah, that’s overcoming my perfectionist/procrastinator tendencies).

Simple. I thought about it some more and several people came to mind: Mother Theresa, St. Francis of the Assisi, Albert Einstein, Billy Graham and my boss Jesse. Each of these people exudes simplicity in the way they live (or lived) their lives, and yet we can’t say they are not successful or not intelligent. On the contrary, these are people who “swim upstream” and are successful in life.

Interestingly, I found a quote from Albert Einstein that reinforces my thoughts on this scribble. He said: "Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

As I have mentioned, I am an advocate of simplicity. In this fast paced, competitive, and high tech world of ours…simplicity doesn’t seem to come natural anymore. One must strive to attain simplicity in our lives or we end up getting sucked into this “competetive, extravagant and stressful” world we live in. I believe that keeping our lives simple will produce serenity and peace within our selves and in turn within our community.

12 comments:

Regina said...

It does seem like the most "successful" people are the ones who can come to terms with the simplicity of life...
This is a wonderfully simple post...:)

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

I'm so happy you stopped thinking and just wrote (so to speak!); what came out is beautiful as is :)

Tracy said...

Very true!

Crafty Green Poet said...

I'm an advocate of simplicity too and as you say it does seem to be difficult sometimes!

Anonymous said...

I've never heard the Einstein quote before - thanks for sharing that! Yes, it does seem harder to live simply. Perhaps it is because it is always so hard to say 'no'? Interesting and thoughtful post - thanks!

JHS said...

Ah, your post reminded me of the quote I used, Liza. Stop by and see.

Great writing today.

gautami tripathy said...

This straight from heart writing says it all.

Great people achieved what they did, with simplicity, humilty and lucidity of thoughts.

bonggamom said...

I love Einstein's quote, it's perfect for this week! Thanks for finding it and sharing it with us :)

sister AE said...

It seems counterintuitive that it may be easier to live a complex life and harder to live a simple life, but it may be true nonetheless.

Patois42 said...

An excellent post. I had similar initial thoughts when I saw the prompt this week. I truly love your point that "One must strive to attain simplicity in our lives or we end up getting sucked into this “competetive, extravagant and stressful” world we live in." Excellent.

Kamsin said...

Excellent post, Liza! Why does simplicity seem so very far from simple to achieve?!

Tammy Brierly said...

Very well said and eloquent! :)