Beauty in the Simple Things

The more complicated the world gets, the more we crave simplicity. This is not naivety or ignorance, it is a surge of truth. We don't thrive when we make life complicated. We thrive when we simplify enough to leave space to notice the beauty around us.

It's Complicated

The complexity of our world exceeds our imagination. Over the past few months I've seen this while working on a huge and complicated legal case. Billions of dollars. Thousands of documents. Hundreds of hours. 

I know I'm not alone. We all get caught up in complicated work, habits, relationships, you name it. And that's just in our own lives. Multiply that by a world full of people and infinite future possibilities and you get dizzying orders of magnitude.

It's just complicated, right?

It's Simple

But why is it that sometimes everything suddenly seems simple? Maybe because it is. We can focus on one thing, for "only one thing is needed" (said the wisest man who ever lived). Then peace settles over our minds. We breathe easier. We find beauty.

Blueberries in a Bowl

This morning, after the whirlwind of my legal case had passed, I felt this transformation from the complicated to the simple. I could see beauty that had been hiding in plain sight. Even breakfast was beautiful: blueberries in a bowl. 

I think we're all craving more simplicity these days. We want the most complex things boiled down to a page, to a sentence, to a single word. That's where we'll find the most beauty, after we get to the only thing that is needed.

PS. If you want practical suggestions for simplifying, here is a good list of 10 things to do. And if you want simplicity in writing, here are 10 ideas worth considering.