The Fallacy of Simpler Times
You have the power to set your own pace.
“The world has grown more complicated…To make a day now it takes bells and whistles and clocks and desks and committees and meetings and money and a serial of daily newspaper editions, and hungry people, and people who are too tired, and luncheon engagements and telephones, and noise and shouting and much hurrying.” — Abbie Graham, Ceremonials of Common Days, published in 1923
Today I simply sat and stared. I looked outside my kitchen window and observed how much the apple tree has grown in two years, the way the butterflies circled around the milkweed and noticed the welcoming breeze from the north that would clear out the lingering humidity from overnight showers. I watched the cats jump from fence post to tree and wondered what it would be like to be that sure-footed and agile.
And then the gremlin of busyness chastised me with guilt. It must be nice to have idle time while others are stressed and busy. Isn’t there something more productive you should be doing right now? I know you have a to-do list on your desk…
I like to blame society, our culture, the advancement of technology, and the emphasis on more for this nagging idea that if I am not busy I am lazy. And yet, I wonder, would I not still be tempted to cave to the demands of busyness even if I found myself living in simpler times?
I’m reading The Egg and I, first published in 1945. It’s a witty, wry, memoir of Betty McDonald, a new bride plucked from city life trying to make a go of homesteading on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state in the late 1920s. If ever I had illusions that life was simpler ‘back then’ Betty’s story has shattered them to pieces. In order to keep their chicken farm operational and heat the house and get the food on the table, Betty worked from pre-dawn to dusk and often lamented about the lack of time to do the things she cherished like reading and visiting with friends and family. The saying, “A woman’s work is never done,” must have been coined in this era.
Who is to blame for all the busyness?
And so I ask myself, is society really to blame for all of the stressed out, burned out, anxious hearts that long for simpler times, or are we, by nature, a driven species, prone to overwork and eager to toss aside the beauty of a butterfly moment for the satisfaction of a checkmark on the day’s to-do list? I can confess to you that I am, or maybe I was.
I like to believe I’ve changed, learned some painful lessons, and practice what I preach on the Simple Life Simple Faith blog. Ya, I like to think that, but I admit I still rush through moments and days and I still tabulate my accomplishments as the marker of a good day, or time well spent.
One thing I’ve learned is that we each have the power to choose our pace. It’s a choice to be busy, overextended, and distracted. How do I force myself to step back, slow down, and live in present moments? Here are a few tips that are helping to reshape my anxious soul.
- Define your personal simplicity. Your simple is not my simple. You may feel at ease with minimalist designs, but I gain pleasure from being surrounded by mementos and nostalgic items that invoke memories of days and people no longer with me. I keep things uncluttered but minimalists would scoff at my decorating skills! Love what you love, just don’t let it smother you.
“Without grace, minimalism is another metric for perfection.” Erin Loechner, Chasing Slow.
2. Practice being present in each moment. I no longer try to capture each experience for Instagram or a Facebook story. When I am with family or friends, I leave my phone untouched and remind myself that my brain is an amazing and complex piece of machinery that knows how to catalog memories of special times. I rest in that being fully immersed in the moment, the sights, sounds, feelings, the conversation is enough.
3. Go back to good old fashioned one thing at a time. This is no lie, but I used to be so driven to accomplish so much in order to try to snatch a few moments at the end of the day to call my own that I would do crazy stuff like getting my clothes out while I brushed my teeth. Seriously, foaming at the mouth, I’d be running around my bedroom feebly trying to save 10 seconds of time. Please don’t judge me; celebrate how far I’ve come!
4. Complete tasks the old-fashioned way. I wash dishes by hand, hang my clothes outside to dry, and sweep instead of vacuum when I can. Roomba? No way — that would take away a chance for me to do something mindless that allows my thoughts to move freely and forces me away from my desk.
5. Yoga. The simple act of dedicating 15–30 minutes most days to stop, roll out a mat, and listen to my breath as I allow it room to expand inside me has done more for my transformation to slowing down than just about any other practice.
The need to rush, to accomplish one more thing, to get ahead of the clock, that’s all internal striving. It’s my own Martha (Luke 10) trying to set the pace.
If you find yourself jumping from moment to moment the way a child leaps from rock to rock across a stream but you never take the time to sit on the boulder in the middle of the stream on your way to the other side, check your self-imposed expectations.
Society may set a pace but there’s no reason we have to follow. Jesus calls us to Kingdom living and it’s a step or two apart and aside from the world’s pace. You can let others move on without you. It’s okay to be idle and stop on your way to the next moment.
By the way, did you ever stop to think that simple is what you make of it? I wonder if you have ever defined your simple?
