​“The man is happiest who lives from day to day and asks no more,

garnering the simple goodness of life.”Euripedes

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Simplicity seems like such a quiet and unimportant word and concept. We know and appreciate simplicity when we see it, but it hardly seems worth mentioning. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a self-help book on simplicity, lol. It’s as if the word itself embodies the almost silent power of keeping things simple. But when we explore simplicity in more depth, we realize how essential this small and silent concept is to living a peaceful, happy life.

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In art, simplicity is easy to recognize. The composition isn’t littered with distracting elements. There is usually a clear and limited color scheme, or perhaps there is no color at all. We feel a sense of peace and quiet as our eyes move calmly through the artwork’s careful directional lines. All elements seem to work together in quiet harmony, and no one thing jumps out at us. In looking at such an artwork we realize that at the heart of simplicity is a gentle focus and a letting go of excess. 

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Focus Efforts on The Beginning

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What is rooted is easy to nourish.
What is recent is easy to correct.
What is brittle is easy to break.
What is small is easy to scatter.

Prevent trouble before it arises.
Put things in order before they exist.
The giant pine tree
grows from a tiny sprout. (64)

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Simplicity also invites us to meet problems and opportunities at the right moment—often when they are still small. Once problems take root and grow, they can become extremely overwhelming, requiring immense amounts of energy and time. Think about an unwise choice you or another has made and how this took a huge portion of your life to deal with. A simple life sharpens our insight to spot difficulties early, and strengthens our courage and discipline to address them quickly and easily while they are small. By doing so, we keep our future cleaner and freer. Likewise, when we see something good we wish to create, we put our best effort into laying strong roots first, understanding that strong roots will make tending the plant so much simpler and easier in the long run.

Like all things in the Tao, however, wisdom lies in knowing the right time to act. Sometimes it is best to go with the flow, take no action, and trust the Tao to work things out. At other times, it is clear that action is needed. How do we know when to move and when to remain still? Verse 36 offers guidance:

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If you want to shrink something,
you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something,
you must first allow it to flourish.

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In other words, there are moments when we must allow a situation to grow before we can see its true nature. Like a weed among flowers, if it’s given a little more time, it becomes easier to recognize, grasp and pull up at the root. Simplicity calls us to cultivate this discernment—knowing what deserves our attention, and choosing the moment when action will be most effective.

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Finding Joy in the Small and Simple

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Simplicity is also at the core of the deepest joys we can experience in life. We often buy into the world's announcement that more is better — a bigger house, a newer, more expensive car, money in the bank, music turned up to fill every silence. But the Tao whispers otherwise. When we grow quiet, when we loosen the grip grand expectations hold on us, the smallest and simplest things can fill us with wonder: the song of a bird, light glittering over a gentle river, the taste of a piece of bread with butter, a smile from a kind stranger.

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Through the gentle practices of Taoism — sitting in stillness, loosening the knot of “should,” embracing the low, sheltering spirit of the valley, looking to nature as the purest mirror of the Way — we find joy not in a cacophony of more, but in the quiet presence of just enough. The deliberate shedding of excess reveals the elegance of less.

I have seen this in my own music. As a pianist, I've long believed that to be a "skilled" pianist, one must be able to play intricate, complex passages that run up and down the keyboard. But lately, I have been drawn to fewer notes and simpler chords— fewer tones suspended in air, meeting each other unexpectedly, entering and exiting in simple symphony. Still, I thought perhaps this was too simple to be considered quality music. One evening, while listening to music online, I heard a piece for piano and viola by Icelandic composer Viktor Orri Arnason. The pianist played three notes with the exact same quarter-note cadence, over and over, throughout the entire piece, changing the simple chord only slowly and gently. Even  the viola’s voice was quiet, spare and repeating. You would think it might have felt plain, perhaps even dull. And yet, it was breathtaking — a beauty born not from a flood of sound, but slow, round drops falling into a vast, quiet pool and sending ripples that felt endless. In hearing his music, I learned that my draw towards the very simple was not simplistic but a draw to beauty of the highest form. This is the joy borne from learning to love the simple things of  the Tao.

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Someone who embraces simplicity . . .

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• Holds clear priorities that quietly guide her thoughts and actions, often unseen by others.

• Knows who she is and feels no need to try to be what she is not.

• Addresses problems at their root, not merely their surface.

• Moves with patience—never trying to do too much, with too little, too fast.

• Finds beauty in the present moment and grace in the current situation.

• Stays grounded in the now, where real action and real life unfold.

• Remains untouched by the noise of endless options, choosing instead to dwell in the joy of the small and the simple.

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Questions for Reflection

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• What do I truly feel is most important in life? Do my daily actions and long-term goals reflect these priorities?

• Consider a challenge you’re currently facing in your life. Ask yourself: What are the root issues in this situation? Am I dealing with the root issues, or am I trying to cut down branches? You may need to "sit" with this situation for awhile until your "dust settles" and the root issues appear to you. You will know when you have found the root issues, and then any actions you need to take will likely reveal themselves to you.

• Are there small problems quietly growing in any corner of my life? Is now the time to act?

• With respect to any new ventures I am undertaking, have I given sufficient attention to the roots to ensure growth will be strong and simple to support?

• ​Who am I at my core? Is trying to be something I am not complicating any situations in my life? If yes, what do I need to do to realign who I am with how I am living?

• What experiences in my life bring me quiet joy? How can I allow these things to happen more frequently? What can I get rid of to increase my joy?

• Consider the processes of your life - cleaning, cooking, grooming, etc. Could these be more simple in any way? Could you consolidate or streamline anywhere? Would it be more simple to get help with any of these processes?

• Simply meditate on the ideas about simplicity presented here. What aspects of your life come to mind? Remain open to any ideas that come to you regarding how simplicity could enhance your balance in life.

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quotes

 

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“He who eats with most pleasure is he who least requires sauce.” - Xenophon

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“Everything natural is easily procured, and only the useless is costly.” - Epicurus

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“Let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration.”  - Pliny

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“To discover the Tao, nothing is better than embracing simplicity.” - Wang Bi

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“The world was easier to understand when choices fell away. It was like understanding a tree when all the leaves dropped: There it was, the pattern of the boughs, the tree itself.” - Hilda of Whitby

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“In the village of nothingness / Gnarled trees prosper / Useless, nothing will harm them.” - Han Shan

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“How miraculous and wondrous, hauling water and carrying firewood!” - Layman Pang

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My tiny, simple and shabby room becomes a palace when wisdom reveals itself.” - Liu Yuxi

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“When occupations come to us we must accept them; when things come to us we must understand them from the ground up.”  Lü Dongbin 

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“Do not cling to one side or one direction. Look into the midst of the space of simplicity.” - Marpa Lotsawa

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“It is present in everyone but within the reach of only a few... If you rest naturally with whatever manifests, without conscious striving, it is evident.” - Longchempa

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“Those who are content with little live day by day and treat any day like a feast day.” - Bracciolini

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“The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes” - Teresa of Avila

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“He who is plenteously provided for from within, needs but little from without.” - Goethe

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“Simplicity and sincerity generally go hand in hand, as both proceed from a love of truth.” - Mary Wollstonecraft

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“The necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self denial to a point, love of work, and above all, a clear conscience.” - George Sand

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“Simplicity if the essence of the great, the true, and the beautiful” - George Sand

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“A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet

that true joy can live.” - Bertrand Russell

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“I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.” Nikos Kazantzakis

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“There is much pleasure in the simple work of the hands, and, as the old rabbis taught, even the scholar will find that the possession of a trade may save him from selling his conclusions for an income.” - Will Durant

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“Remember, all of man's happiness is in the little valleys. Tiny little ones.

Small enough to call from one side to the other.” - Jean Giono

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questions (under construction)

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What are my priorities in life? What are my priorities with respect to my family? My work? My self? Some of my priorities are honesty, loving and being myself, being kind, being patient, and staying aligned with truth and beauty. Once you have identified your priorities, when you are faced with  confusion or pain in any area, go back to these priorities. Often you will find you have made something else a priority. Once again embrace what you know is the most important thing in that situation, and pain, concern and frustration will decrease. For example, I often feel hurt when I feel rejected by another person in any way. This is normal, but really it reveals that I am valuing what someone else thinks of me over what I think about myself. It also shows that I value someone's opinion without really considering if they are in a position to judge me or if their judgment is motivated by good intentions or the ability to see and understand all of the forces involved in a situation (which is doubtful). If I once again accept that my priority is how I feel about myself and not what others think about me, and what IS as opposed to what might appear to be, the hurt goes away.

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An area where we often allow ourselves to be burdened by competing priorities is work and choosing what our life's work will be. I struggled for decades over what line of work to pursue. Looking back, I realize at the core of my confusion was unclear and competing priorities. I wanted to find a career that I would enjoy, fit my personality, was not too demanding and might even allow me to work remotely, paid well, was somewhat prestigious, would bring me a sense of fulfillment, but that wouldn't require too much of a time and money investment up front. Can you see why I had such a hard time making a decision? I bounced from the idea of attending law school, to being a high school teacher, to being a counselor, to getting a Ph.D., and on and on. Nothing seemed to meet all of my expectations. When I finally made a decision, I didn't hold tight to really what should have been my number one priority: doing something I enjoy and that fit my personality. If I had held on to these priorities at whatever cost, I would have made a better decision. As it turns out, I ended up in a job that was by and large unfulfilling and very wrong for my personality.  And there was one priority I didn't even consider: making a contribution to society. I grew up thinking that making the best of who you are was what life was all about. Yes, you had to be kind and respectful, but that wasn't the number one goal. But work is all about the contribution you make to society. Society exists because individuals support it, and we support society by working. I forgot that. By identifying the most important aspects of what will make a job "right" for us and refusing to let go of those priorities makes selecting a job so much easier. 

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Who am I at my core? Am I trying to be something I am not in any part of my life? How can I act more like myself or get out of situations that are asking me to be something I am not?

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Consider any challenges facing you right now. What is at the root of those problems? What needs to change at the root level? Often, what needs to change is the way we are viewing the problem or our lack of living by our priorities. If not, carefully determine the most efficient change needed and have the courage to make it. In this way, we solve problems in our life quickly and simply.

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Am I trying to do too much with too little in any areas of my life? How can I pare back and either set more reasonable goals or let go of unimportant, unessential goals altogether? Remember that we are often driven by silent, unacknowledged goals or intentions. Make sure to evaluate those often hidden aspirations, too. 

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Am I overwhelmed and distracted by too many choices in any area of my life? Just because choices are there does not mean they need to be considered. Having to continually evaluate options can deplete us of energy and focus. Can I make any firm decisions now and learn to quickly disregard new options? For example, I know a woman who basically wears the same thing every day. She has a few variations, but there is really no question about what to wear each morning. This allows her to focus on more important things in life. We can be distracted by too many choices in what to do with our time, what to eat, what to listen to, where to go, what to buy, and on and on. Narrow those choices, or eliminate them altogether and you will find that you are more focused and you can appreciate and enjoy everything in your life more deeply. In other words, less is more.

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What is good about my present situation in terms of my self, my relationships, my work, and my living situation? How can I better appreciate those things and remain focused on them? This is another area where allowing yourself to see and consider too many options can destroy your contentment.

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Is my focus on the present moment, or do I tend to dwell on the past or future? It's natural to think about the past or the future, but if that is all you think about, you are complicating your life. When we simply focus on the here and now, we feel content and are better able to see and enjoy the beauty of each moment, the beauty of life itself. We also realize that the good in life has little to do with perfect situations and an abundance of things but rather having a clear and simple vision that can see, hear and feel real beauty. We also come to realize that many of the most beautiful things in life are also the most small and simple.

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