So, how to simplify?

"Progress means simplifying, not complcating." Bruno Munari(1907-1998)

As you can see, I am smitten with balanced stone sculpture. This particular photo with the stones against the blue sky and water with a solo kayaker epitomizes the idea of balanced simplicity for me.

I think that a stone house would be excellent. An earthen house, say cob or adobe with a stone fence and walkway would be ideal.
For the Anishinaabe, rocks are 'ancestors'. For the Lakota as for many, if not all, of the First People, Earth was sacred. For these people mining, tearing holes in Maka ina(mother earth) in order to rip out the resources was horrifying. It was done with no respect for the Maka and her gifts. Look at mountaintop destruction to extract coal in Appalachia and we see it has only gotten worse.
In asking how to simplify we could make lists of things to do or not do, of things to save or to discard. You can find many excellent lists and suggestions at www.zenhabits.net and these are practical and helpful. Eventually this may be a thing to do, especially if your life is extremely cluttered and complicated. I believe that before you actually add another 'thing to do' to an already frenetic environment, you take time to, as Alan Watts put it in the title of his excellent book, "Still The Mind". If your mind and heart are not simple, all the rest will only be busy work getting rid of a few items, dumping a few obligations. But without a prevailing attitude of simplicity, you will only accrue more things, take on more busyness."But I haven't the time" is the typical complaint. We all have the same amount of time, its a matter of how we spend it.

I started with talk about stones, earth and sky and water. In order to cultivate a simple heart, these are basic necessities. Find a stone. It can be lovely or plain. You probably have one you've picked up as a souvenier on a trip. Hold the stone and think of it as an ancestor. Think of its age and how long it took to form. If you have collected it, think of its environment, the hills, the lakeshore and sand from which it came. Consider your own needs and obligations in relation to the stone and its earth home. How long will these needs and obligations matter? Think in terms of all the things you own. Do they please you and fulfill you. Or do they bind you to a life you can't be easy in? When can you do this? Take time from diversions, from television, from music, from the desperate craving for entertainment and take time to be, not do. Be like the stone for a time and connect with the earth.
When weather permits, gather a handful of earth. Hold it, consider its makeup of finely ground minerals, organic matter, perhaps small stones. If possible, sit outside and hold the earth, allowing it to slowly sift through your fingers, consider its potential for providing you with food. Consider that it is very much alive and without this we cannot survive.
This may all sound airy fairy to you. It certainly isn't getting your closets organized or getting rid of clutter in the basement. But, if you cannot take time to connect with that from which we draw life and that to which our bodies will return, if you cannot take time to still the mind, do you really hope for simplicity?

Simplicity

....I love round stones....
Originally uploaded by rebranca46

The concept,simplicity,is an interesting one in that it is so open to interpretation, it becomes complex. I have been interested in simplifying my life for some decades now, ever since I started studying Mennonites, Quakers, essential Christianity and communal living. At one point I sold and gave away all I owned except for what I could fit in three suitcases and one small box, which was mostly photos. I can hear some saying, "Sure, when I was 22 I fit all my worldly goods in a backpack" and so on. I was 56 at the time. The only reason I needed three suitcases was because I am 6'3" and my clothes and shoes are so damn big. Now, I will grant that you have to have more stuff than that to live, you have to cook and you have to sleep on something, but how much do we need? www.Treehugger.com posed the question the other day; "if you had to leave your home forever, what ten things would you take?"
I found this a challenging and difficult question. It would require more info to be able to make appropriate decisions. Are you fleeing as a refugee concerned for survival? Or are you a middle-class, employed, fully insured person? Obviously you would make different choices based on the situation.
The December issue of Yes! magazine had a great article about Dee Williams who built an 84 square foot house on wheels. She spent ten thousand dollars, but much of that was for her solar panel set-up. The wee house has a sleeping loft and a hobbit sized porch. She pays five dollars a month in utility bills and keeps her possessions down to three hundred things(or less).
I might be able to live in 84 sq feet with 300 things, but not without land to garden and a workshop and food storage of some sort. Dee lives alone in her friend's back yard and, one assumes, has access to said friend's bathroom. There is a video of Dee and her house at Youtube which for some reason I can't embed here.
Let's consider. If we lived in a commune, where we had a common kitchen and dining room, a separate bathroom and some work and play areas, how much room would we need? How many personal possessions would we need? Smaller than 10' x 10'? Fewer than 300 things?
Maybe this is trying too hard to quantify a complex concept. Simplicity also resides somewhere in our heart or head. Are we content with a few things, simple food and simple pleasures? And then what does that all mean for you? I once read an article about monks who had taken a vow of poverty and one of them said, when you own almost nothing, you may become fiercely possessive of your pen or personal coffee mug. Is that a simple attitude?
Simple living has implications for the environment, the economy but most of all, it seems to me, it has profound implications for our emotional and spiritual well-being.