We’re back this week after a little break and we catch up on how things are going with our themes. There’s a great email about ways to respond to fear. And I talk a little bit more about my year of ‘Less is More’.
I’ve been thinking about this as I’ve started to put more systems in place in order to simplify things. And there are a couple of elements which I talk about in this week’s episode. The first is how the modern world – especially modern technology – keeps on adding complexity, even as it promises to make our lives simpler and easier. This is absolutely exemplified by software, which, with every upgrade, adds things you never asked for and don’t use. Or it includes mandatory AI features which are hard to turn off. There is more and more to learn, but less and less of it is actually worth learning. So part of less is more is about learning which new technologies are going to be worth adopting. And I feel that a lot of these will be analogue rather than digital, this year.
The second aspect is that I must not expect too much out of this. It’s easy to view the simple life as some kind of romantic ideal. I expect, or at least I hope, that focus on decluttering, on simplifying my physics, spiritual and mental environment will make me happier. But I have learned that appearances can be deceptive. It’s like those minimalist homes you used to see in magazines. All those clean, white pure surfaces. The people who live in those houses – their life must be perfect, right? Because their surroundings look so pristine, we think that the inhabitants must be living a similarly perfect, clean and orderly life. No worries, no problems, no dirt.
Of course it’s not true. There is always clutter just out of shut. And behind those architect-design cupboard doors who knows what unholy mess is lurking? A long time ago Jesus had something to say about how whited sepulchres. They look beautiful, but there is still death and decomposition inside.
Which is not a reason to live in clutter. But it is to understand that clearing up can only get you so far. There is always a deeper clean needed and a deeper decluttering to be endured.