The Art of Simplicity

I may only be nineteen years old, but I've found myself, more and more often, being called an old soul...maybe it's true - but nothing will ever quell my childish love of ice cream or close my open-mouthed wonder when I look up at the night sky to see the stars gloriously shining without a care. Nothing could still the restless beating of my heart to go out and make a difference in the world.

As I've been growing this year, wandering down the flower-lined road, trying to figure out who I am, I have been learning many lessons. And I've been thinking a lot about how to make a peaceful, happy life. I've been pondering how to be me in all that I am. How to remember that I'm only human in the way I think and act. 

And in taking a step back from my little but big life, I've thought a lot about how we as humans are attempting to survive and thrive and live in this world... One thing I've noticed a lot, is that we are all experts in the art of overthinking. 

As (sometimes) highly intelligent creatures - we are born to think. In each moment of our lives, we're thinking about something that happened yesterday, or a year ago. Or maybe we're thinking about a place we'd rather be, or a future we're hoping to make. Maybe we're lost thinking about everything that's going wrong - fearful, we cower and shiver under the brooding dark skies. Sometimes we go round in circles in our minds wondering what other people are thinking, thinking about ourselves and how we live in the world. Stuck on "what if's" and "should I's" and "maybe's" and "what's the right thing to do's?"

Astray and disorientated we wonder about the right way to live, the right person to be, the right job to choose, the right person to love, the right photo to post, the right words to say, the right message to send. Should I choose this or that? Should I do this? What will they think?

Layers and piles, and blankets and coverings, folds and sheets, slabs and panels, overlays and tiles, a magnitude of thoughts. They fill our mind. Trap us in. Nailed in shut. You cannot breathe.

Maybe sometimes we end up thinking so much, we forget how to feel...

If we're so lost in our thoughts, how can we really know what we want. If we're adrift in our mind, are we really living in the moment. If we've hidden our true feelings confused by our thoughts, are we really being honest to ourselves and the people around us? Are we really living an honest true life, living out in all we think, do and say?

We end up instead losing the precious moments, forfeiting the little joys in life. We aren't even present in our own lives. We're lost in a thought, a maybe, a something, a past, a future that may or may not occur.

It's when we're stuck overthinking, that we forget that life keeps moving on. Each day the sun rises. Each day the sun sets. The birds sing, the trees stretch their arms. The leaves whisper and rustle. The world turns, oblivious to our problems.

So I implore you now - get out of your head... 

We are all living poems. Accept the chaos inside of you. Accept that there will be unanswered questions, experiences that may throw you, times that hurt. Accept you will make mistakes, spill food and drink too much wine. Understand that not everyone will understand you and you will not understand everyone. Know that there are some things you have to let go, but there will also be some things that tie you deep. Realise that there is always beauty around you and within you. You can be your own rock. Remind yourself that you are only human.

If you find yourself being dragged down by the stumbling, crumbling, freaking-out mind. If you're drowning under the weight of a thousand "what if's." Go outside and look up! 

Feel the lightness of the sky above you. If the day is cloudy and rain pours down - know the sun is still shining somewhere. Feel the vastness of the air wrapping itself around you. Breathe it in. Feel your feet on the ground, the wind playing with your hair, caressing your cheek. Hear the sounds of the birds and the cars and the people and yourself. See, really see the place you find yourself in. You are never alone. Because you're one with the world. And in fact you are the world. 

To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.

— Dr Seuss

Know so many people are rooting for you. There are people out there who care a lot about you. There are people out there who love you with every beat of their heart.

And just like that - you can find a little bit of peace. 

In a world of expectations placed upon us, some by others, a lot by ourselves, it is so easy to overthink, to make things heavy and complicated. 

So get out of your head. 

It’s only dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly.
Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them...

So throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling, on tiptoes and no luggage, not even a sponge bag, completely unencumbered.

— Aldous Huxley, The Island

A lot of the time we make our own sorrow. We torture ourselves through overthinking. It sucks us down. 

Try instead to draw yourself back to the moment. Everything will turn out alright! Trust in the universe, trust in yourself. There are so many extraordinary things occurring around you and within you to be bogged down by worry. Put things in perspective. What seems big now will really only be a grain of sand when you look back at your life at the end of it. When you'e drowning in a dark thought, remember all the light you have. The friends, the family, the experiences, the opportunities - they are all around you. Remember the light. We have so much to be thankful for. Don't forget this, in longing for things you don't have.

Be okay with where you are now and with what is going on.

And get in to your heart.

Remember how to feel. You don't always have to know where you're going - just trust you're going the right way. Have your head hold your heart's hand and with a wise mind, realise what you really want. Everything going on in our world and the world around us - our problems and stresses, wars, starvation and poverty, the sorrow, the sadness, the anger, the hate, the bitterness, it's all only a small part of a larger often forgotten story. 

And that's the story of the simple fact - we're all looking for peace. Every single human wants to love and to feel as if they belong. We all can find joy in our friends and family, in a kind heart. We live for food and laughter. We live for the simple, little things in life. 

As humans we want adventures...we want:

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel.

— James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Because "That is the purpose of life."

Don't you see - life is so simple. We just make it complicated by overthinking. At the end of the day, all that counts is how much you loved, how much you laughed and how many adventures you had that made you feel truly alive.

Do the things that scare you. Do the things that push you outside of your comfort zones. Shout out to the world how you feel - even if people think you're crazy. 

Get out from your head and dare to truly live. Dare to be in each moment. To be honest and geninue. Pull down the walls and let your heart be open. Live deeply, but tread lightly. Dare to be yourself.

There is beauty in living a simple life. In feeling the colours of the world. Don't be afraid anymore.

Life is truly simple.

Life is truly wonderful.

You are truly remarkable.

To make living itself an art,
That is the goal.

— H. Miller