We have so many opportunities everyday to honour simplicity. There are so many moments that we miss because we are too busy thinking. We are spending so much time in the past and the future, thinking about situations, ideas, about what should be, about our fears, about our hopes… We are missing so much of our lives just busy in our mind.
Life can become a sacred Yoga and we can change the entire feel of life. How can we do this? Just by slowing down and focusing on the moment. Open your eyes to what is around you. Look at the world. Nature gives us such a show every day and we are missing most of it. We spend most of our day in a sort of trance, away from our reality, away from our body.
I have a garden and every morning, I look at it. I am present in my body, looking at my garden. This morning a black bird came so close to me that I felt the blow of his wing on my cheek. New leaves are pushing on a bush and the blossoms on the camellia are bigger and picker than yesterday.
The sky is beautiful, the clouds are pushed North East by the wind and it is feeling colder than yesterday. I am so happy to be alive and to be able to enjoy the show. My dog gave me love and I gave love back. The house is still silent and I am now sitting writing to you. How do you feel this morning? How is it to be alive? Are you grateful to still be able to enjoy another day?
When you slow down enough, you discover an entire new world in between seconds and you can sit in it and enjoy. It is simple, it is beautiful, it is life. The Art of Simplicity is so simple and so difficult to access because it is simple. The obvious around us is a jewel that we can taste over and over again.
What are you doing right now?
Stop reading and look around you. What is happening? What do you see that is worth to stop for a second? Look at the sky; look at the person walking in front of you. We have the ability to enjoy this world in a way which is so amazing. We can really feel the world, smell it, touch it, see it and listen to it. We have the most amazing ability to be in touch with our environment and we ignore it so often.
How does it feel to feel, to realise that you are connected to this world in such a magic way? The Art of Simplicity is in the Now and in the ability to open up and communicate with all your cells. Fill your lounges and fell the pleasure of this fundamental movement of life.
We can practice the Art of Simplicity at any moment. It is never too late because it is always available. Attention is the key word to make the difference. Be aware and awake: enjoy the treasure of life right now.
John Maeda on Simplicity:
