I would explain why I created a file about simplicity . . . but it's too complicated ;-)



Simplicity


More or Less

"I want a bathroom cabinet that contains one product that works instead of 47 hypothetical miracles . . . I want a closet with three outfits that fit instead of 100 miscellaneous pieces that require either altering them or me to wear . . . I want a refrigerator with one decent meal instead of nine cubic feet of expired dairy products and little condiment packets . . . I want a counter with one current paper instead of thirty old ones that I'm too guilty to throw out . . . I want a four-passenger car that has room for a passenger in it . . . and finally, I want a purse that contains no more than I actually need to get from here to there!!
I want more out of life, but I want less in it."  (from the comic strip "Cathy")


The Paradox of Our Age

(Norris Peters)

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers;
wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints;
we spend more, but have less;
we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families;
more conveniences, but less time;
we have more degrees, but less sense;
more knowledge, but less judgment;
more experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much,
smoke too much,
spend too recklessly,
laugh too little,
drive too fast,
get too angry too quickly,
stay up too late,
get up too tired,
read too little,
watch TV too much,
and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom and lie too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life;
We've added years to life, not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We've conquered outer space, but not inner space;
We've done larger things, but not better things;
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul;
We've split the atom, but not our prejudice;
We write more, but learn less;
We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait;
We have higher incomes; but lower morals;
We have more food but less appeasement;
We build more computers to hold more information,
to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication;
We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion;
tall men, and short character;
steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare;
more leisure and less fun;
more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes, but more divorce;
of fancier houses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips,
disposable diapers,
throwaway morality,
one-night stands,
overweight bodies,
and pills that do everything from cheer,
to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window
and nothing in the stockroom;
a time when technology can bring this to YOU,
and a time when you can CHOOSE either to make a difference,
or to just ignore it . . .
choose to ignore it, and you forfeit your right to complain.


My Resignation from Adulthood

To Whom It May Concern:
I hereby officially tender my resignation as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a six-year-old again.
I want to go to McDonald's and think it's a four-star restaurant.
I want to think M&M's are better than money, because you can eat them.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks.
I want to play kickball during recess and paint with watercolors in art.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple.
When all you knew were colors, addition and simple nursery rhymes,
but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.
When all you knew was to be happy because you didn't know all the things that should make you worried and upset.
I want to think that the world is fair.
That everyone in it is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible.
Somewhere along the way I learned too much.
I learned of nuclear weapons, war, prejudice, starvation and abused children.
I learned of lies, unhappy marriages, suffering, illness, pain and death.
I learned of a world where children knew how to kill . . . and did.

What happened to the time when we thought that everyone would live forever, because we didn't grasp the concept of death?
When we thought the worst thing in the world was if someone took the jump rope from us or picked us last for kickball?
I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by little things once again.
I want to return to the days when reading was fun and music was clean.
When television was used to report the news or for family entertainment and not to promote sex, violence and deceit.

I would spend my afternoons climbing trees and riding my bike.
I didn't worry about time, bills or where I was going to find the money to fix my car.
I used to wonder what I was going to do or be when I grew up, not worry about what I would do if it didn't work out.
I want to live simple again.

I don't want my day to consist of:
computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness and the loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of:
smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind and making angels in the snow.

So . . . here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements.
I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, 'cause,

"Tag! You're it."


K.I.S.S.

Everyone has heard of the KISS principle (keep it simple, stupid). And I am a big believer in keeping things as simple as possible. However some things are just NOT simple--no matter how much someone wishes they were. Some people try to make things more simple than they really are because they want them to be that way or because they don't want to deal with them. Anything can be made to appear simple just by refusing to see the complexities. If a person can do that and feel comfortable about it I guess that is good for them--though not necessarily for those around them. Instead of "keep it simple, stupid" I prefer the quote "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. (Albert Einstein)"

I know that many people complicate their own lives. I have done that in the past but I am getting much better at not doing it. On the other hand some situations aren't simple and were not created by me. And even if I get to the point of not making any of my simple problems complicated there will still be the large number of problems that really are complicated. And even if most of my problems start out simple and I am the one responsible for complicating them, you can never un-complicate things as easily as you complicate them. I have found that sometimes when I have complicated problems that I can't possibly solve I can keep your mind off of it by complicating a simple problem and concentrating on it.

There are times when a person knows very well what they should do--very simple decisions--but convincing their self to do it may be not so simple. Emotions and feelings can be complex even if the issue itself is simple. Often what complicates our lives are the people we relate to. I could simplify my life but it would require things I am not willing to do. I am more than willing to accept the complications that arise from caring.

The last thing you need to hear when you are trying to cope with a difficult situation is for someone to tell you to 'keep it simple, stupid'. Especially if that person doesn't know the details of your problems or has never dealt with a similar situation. Things always seem simpler if we are not the ones who has to do them. I recently ran across a quote that a person could use if someone tells you to 'keep it simple, stupid'.
"It ain't that simple and I ain't that stupid."
Or you can vary it to fit your situation:
Even I'm not stupid enough to think this is simple.
This isn't simple and I'm not stupid.
If you think this is simple, you're the one who's stupid.
To a stupid person, everything seems simple.

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Below are Songs about Easiness, plain, ordinary, obvious, natural, and simple.


Songs about Easiness


Songs about Plain


Songs about Ordinary


Songs about Obvious


Songs about Natural


Songs about Simple Things

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