The key to solving most of your troubles is simplicity
Simplicity is a popular golden rule in modern design. It leads “right to the point” and a pleasant user experience. When I was a design student, I got really inspired by John Maeda’s The Laws of Simplicity. The purpose of design and the duty of a good designer have just been perfectly conveyed by his top 10 laws:
Today, I have been practicing being a conscious consumer for two years now. In the mean time, having an extremely busy schedule running a startup and traveling frequently had been taking a toll on me. It had been draining me out like crazy, and that always raises a red flag for my mental health. So I started looking for ways to release the stress. But unlike before, this time I wanted a more permanent solution.
After a lot of thinking, I realized how useful the 10 Laws of Simplicity could be for my life as well. I started reading up on how to declutter my schedule and simplify my life. It was certainly a slow, time-consuming, and challenging process. I had to make a pretty big mindset shift, but I knew that I needed it.
And now that I have been practicing it for a few months, I can vouch for its effectiveness. Simplifying my life has lead to improved physical and mental health, superior work quality, and better relationship with customers, society and environment in general. Practicing simplicity has helped me feel lighter, less exhausted, and make right decisions more often. So here I am, giving you some tips to bring simplicity to your life as well.
#1 The Minimalists
Do you know, living in this era, most of what you are obsessed with or aim to achieve is influenced by media? Have you ever thought about how much of your life is controlled by the media and other people’s opinions? If no one thinks dressing in high heels and wearing red lipstick are equal to beauty and confidence, would most people still want that so badly? How much do you think our capitalistic lifestyles are shaped by propaganda that goes as far back as WWI and WWII?
The Minimalists are two young pioneers , Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus, who guide people to live easier, lighter and deeper lives.
Minimalism is not just getting rid of things you don’t need, it has a deeper meaning behind it — making room for more.
Check here to dig out more and start to making room for things that really matter.
#2 Sustainable Simplicity
Back-to-basics! Have you ever thought about why we all want a big house surrounded by a grand lawn, then pay a lot of our hard-earned money to maintain it? Do we really need that central air conditioning, that big pool, and all those guest bathrooms? What’s the purpose of doing that? Meeting the expectations of society? Family sizes are much smaller these days, and transportation is super convenient, so why do you want to lock yourself in a money chasing cycle and stay in that limited box?
Live in a tiny, self-reliant house, enjoy a bigger life.
If you live in a tiny house, there will be less maintenance fee, more desire to step out of your home to explore the world. Living in a small house doesn’t mean being poor; in fact it’s quite trendy today, and for good reason, because it feels great. In this blog, you can find lots of inspiration about starting a tiny-house life.
#3 Japanese Living Practice of Simplicity — Shokunin — Aoyama Square
As a Taiwanese, I grew up in a society influenced a lot by Japan — because up until 80 years ago, Taiwan was ruled by Japan for half a century. Also, I have been to Japan a few times. I visited few local artists and have been truly inspired by the Japanese artisan spirit, or as they call it, “shokunin”. It’s a concept that’s hard to define, it’s more like a feeling, but I’ll try to explain anyway.
Shokunin means simplicity, focus, going deeper, making things perfect, with a dedication to giving back and helping enhance one’s community.
However, it’s not simply a focus on technical skills. Rather, it implies an attitude, social responsibility, and self consciousness.
We live in a bustling world with information overload coming at us from all directions everyday. The only way forward is to focus on choosing a useful, healthy, and responsible path for ourselves, which includes being mindful of what to eat, what to do, what to buy, etc.
Here I share a youtube channel that fully demonstrates shokunin in various fields. It doesn’t directly show simplicity, however, you can see how Japanese shokunin that have this mind can achieve — a perfect delivery of products and services, plus a grateful and organized life path.
#4 Japanese Living Practice of Simplicity — MUJI
If you care about environmental issues (which you should), you probably are aware of how much trash come from packaging waste. Most of the packaging is very unnecessary, but none of us pay attention to it. Convenience trumps all in this day and age, doesn’t it? Well, a famous Japanese brand, MUJI, is a very good example of using the rule of simplicity in business.
MUJI in Japanese translates to “no-brand quality goods”.
Their top principle is to simplify the packaging, allow people to purely feel the quality of the products and understand the products by using the product itself, not the packaging. In their product line, you can see that colors, decoration, and packaging are minimally used. It’s all very clean, direct and simple. Simplicity and emptiness yield the ultimate universality.
Here another very inspiring example — #The KonMari Method™
Organizing expert Marie Kondo has helped people around the world transform their cluttered houses into tidy, clean and serene spaces. By using her method, you’ll find life can be made so much easier by simplifying and organizing.
#5 Book: I Am Here Now by The Mindfulness Project
Has this thought ever crossed your mind?
“I didn’t have much back then, but I was so much happier.”
I bet it has, for many of you, especially those who haven’t lived in an urban setting all their life? Happiness came from the smallest of things back when we used to immerse ourselves in the simple joys of nature — the fresh air, the greenery, even the little bugs in the bushes. Why does taking a bite out of a tiny wildberry you found during a trek make you happy when you know you could have an entire bowl easily back home?
It’s because we’re enjoying the moment, we’re in a state of mindful happiness. But most of us have forgotten how to do that consciously. Everything around us is trying to grab our attention these days, and engaging with things that give us these small moments of joy is becoming increasingly difficult.
This is where the book “I Am Here Now” comes to our rescue. It’s an incredible resource to help you practice and cultivate your sense of awareness.
That’s all for today, friends. I hope you’re feeling inspired to declutter your lives and and relearn how to be mindfully happy. Go find the joy of simplicity.
🌱 Eva Chou — Conscious Community Ambassador at NatureHub
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