Life Is Simple, That’s Why We Are Lost

Our reality is straightforward, and we are pretty simple, too. But the narrative of our minds makes us lost in complexity. Luckily, we can learn to see beyond it.

Recently, I went through everything I own and decided to sell, give away or dispose of about 70% of my possessions. As days go by, I’m still picking more things to part with every now and then.

In the past, I’ve also simplified other areas of my life.

I stopped listening to music, watching movies, and reading novels for over a year to see how much of my mind’s narrative could be removed.

I took an over year-long break from Instagram and other Social Media to limit the amount of external inputs in my mind.

And I quit drinking alcohol — to always confront reality as it is.

Simplification is a multi-faceted process that cultivates a streamlined mindset.

Now, after incorporating two hours of meditation practice into my daily schedule and having attended three silent Vipassana meditation retreats, I am slowly beginning to see the need for simplification encapsulating more and more aspects of my life.

The calmer I am within and the purer my mind becomes — the less I want.

These are just a few steps on a long path, but they helped me gain a bit more clarity, which I lacked for many years.

Clear view

Simplicity is a value I wanted to cultivate in all aspects of my life for many years now.

Simplicity of mind.

Simplicity of heart.

Simplicity of surroundings.

Simplicity of being.

I think that growing up with not much money allowed me to perceive value in things that cannot be bought.

I’d make my toys out of the elements I found in the forest or dive into books, exploring new worlds and realms in my imagination. I also spent significant time observing nature, trying to understand its ways, and adapting some of them into my life.

Having to put up with limited material resources encouraged me to appreciate the world more — and in all its forms.

Of course, sometimes I envied my friends for their toys, clothes, phones, or vacationing in a foreign country.

But ultimately, not having those things enabled me personally to put my focus on what was there in front of me and fully appreciate it.

“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

I carry this point of view to this day.

It has always been my default way of being, even when I lost sight of it a few times.

It’s hard to be immune to the allures of the consumerist world, and I definitely have fallen into that trap more than once.

I’ve had a few attempts at simplifying my life in the past but never managed to sustain it. I think what caused a problem and ultimately resulted in me re-stocking whatever I got rid of was my idea of simplicity.

I used to see simplicity as an aim on its own. Something fixed and defined.

That caused me to hold rigid views on how it should look and what it should mean. Views that weren’t my own but were brewed from the opinions of others, and I tried to fit into them.

So, as a result, even though my desire for simplicity was genuine, my actions were driven by force.

And what’s forced will usually snap back as soon as the pressure is gone. So that’s how it has been for a few years — going back and forth, trying hard to be where my feet were not standing.

While it seems like I intuitively knew what was good for me, I didn’t have the tools to make it my reality.

It took some time and work until I learned a gentler and more mindful approach.

As a result of that inner work, simplicity started showing up in my ways of living naturally, unforcedly, as a progression of my path.

It’s not only the material aspects of my life that now begin to reflect the slowly expanding simplicity of my mind.

I came to believe that life is very simple and straightforward at its essence. And humans are simple, too.

It’s just that we get lost in our minds’ narratives, which makes everything appear much more complicated than it is.

In the past, I was helplessly lost in my own mind, unable to control it. I felt so overwhelmed at times that I’d often bang my fists against my head, not knowing what else to do to break free from it.

Now, I sometimes find myself simply being and taking in life as it is, without a narrative.

Even if some thoughts are still there, I don’t engage in them as much, so they float around like thin clouds in the sky, carried about by a gentle wind.

Life seems more doable when approached this way.

Once we clear the surface of our minds from the excess, we will see that the underlying current that flows through all of us is love and compassion.

I know many wouldn’t agree with me, but I will still say that our innate nature is good and pure.

We look up to peacemakers and compassionate leaders as unique individuals. But they themselves say that they haven’t acquired anything extraordinary in this sense. They didn’t develop qualities that are foreign to us. They didn’t find anything that wasn’t already within them — that can’t be found deep within each of us.

They walked a path of purification of the mind. They shed many layers of excess that covered their true nature. And as a result, they’ve become our lighthouses.

They represent who we all are as humans. They show us what is possible if we only redirect our attention from the outside objects to the world within.

We don’t even have to go as far as they did to experience the warmth of humanity’s true nature.

Just a few steps on this path will allow us to peak beyond the surface level of the mind.

There, we will see for ourselves that everything and everyone, at their core, is good and pure.

Committing to simplicity allows us to see everything more clearly.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”

— Henry David Thoreau

Practicing simplicity

The general path of simplification and purification is mindfulness.

But who knows what that means and how to practice it if I put it as such?

So, instead, I will suggest two mindful paths to simplicity anyone can practice daily.

Observing nature

In general… When I’m looking at a screen, I feel like I need more. When I’m looking at nature, I feel like I have enough.

— James Clear

The natural world is unapologetically straightforward, simple, and raw. It doesn’t try to be anything other than it is. It puts on the most beautiful show every dawn and dusk without asking if anyone’s watching. It knows its ways, and it follows them without fail. It does what it has to do, regardless of our preferences or opinions. In other words, it just is as it is.

Observing nature can teach us a lot.

But I think it can give us even more if we approach it remembering that, at the core, we are nature, too.

And so whatever dynamics we observe on the outside, they are reflected within us.

Here’s one way to go about it, as Ram Dass shared:

“When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You are too this, or I’m too this.’ That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”

I remember when I lost my job, which was the best job I had so far, and I lost it due to my own mistake. After the call, which finalised the collaboration, I went out into the woods to air dense emotions from my heart.

Carried by the swell of anxiety and worry about finding a new job amidst the economic crisis, I walked for a good while until my thoughts were mostly trampled into the wet spring forest floor.

Without thinking, I stepped off the muddy path and walked into the depths of the forest. Standing there, surrounded by firm wooden bodies, I swept my gaze across the trees around me. Their branches reaching high up, their cores standing firm on the ground.

I thought to myself — or perhaps to them — you are always here, through winter and summer, unbothered, untouched, withstanding all difficulties silently and gracefully.

There was some indescribable awe in looking at them from this perspective. I admired them.

And suddenly, I desired to be just the same.

How wonderful, I told myself, would it be to become just like this tree before me?

Ever since that thought dawned on me, I find encouragement and strength whenever I pause and look at the trees.

Through their simplicity, they keep teaching me their lesson.

Meditation

Meditation is hard because it’s the simplest activity we can engage in.

You literally just sit and watch your breath for who-knows-how-long.

This can be incredibly boring for our minds, which are used to constant stimulation.

That’s why many of us find it difficult to stick with meditation and often give up before experiencing its benefits.

Meditation forces us to simplify the moment down to its absolute core. There’s no more basic function of our existence than simply being and breathing.

This activity of simplification amidst the chaos sharpens our mind so that, over time, it is able to penetrate its own depths — all the way to our core.

Meditation is a training of the mind. You could actually say that through meditation, you train yourself in simplicity.

Just like you go to the gym to train your body to serve you better in everyday life, you sit down on a cushion daily to exercise your mind.

Like simplicity, meditation is not an aim in itself; it’s a tool.

So, whatever wisdom we develop during our sitting practice should naturally enrich our daily lives.

The more you meditate, the simpler, gentler, and clearer you will see your mind becoming. And the better you will know how to act in your life.

It’s a straightforward path.

“Meditation is not to escape from society but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

“To meditate means to go home to yourself. Then you know how to take care of the things that are happening inside you. And you know how to take care of the things that happen around you.

— Thich Nhat Hanh

“If you want to simplify your life, meditation is the answer. If you want to fulfil your life, meditation is the answer. If you want to have joy and offer joy to the world at large, then meditation is the only answer.”

— Sri Chinmoy

Before you go

I’m Justyna Cyrankiewicz, and I write about simple things that make overcomplicated minds.

If you enjoyed this piece, consider subscribing to my free weekly letters. It’s a community of people who, like you, care about what’s up in their heads.

P.S. Please note that this story is based on my personal experience and the books I’ve read. I share what helped me and others whom I spoke to. Don’t follow online advice if your mental health is severely at risk; consult a therapist or psychiatrist.

Thank you for being here.