Living Simply

Personal May 21, 2009

Today exactly marks the one year anniversary of me moving to California. And what a year it's been. Living here has taught me many things about myself and what I want from life and I think I can sum it up in one word: simplicity.

When I first moved here, I started with pretty much a blank slate. I hardly brought any clothes and I only shipped a couple boxes of stuff (technology, mostly). For a long time I thought it was ideal to have a totally simplistic, modern interior design for a house. And for a while once I lived here, I kept my apartment extremely bare; I had nothing but a teapot, a mattress pad, speakers and a lamp. It was very enlightening.

But as I continued to settle in, I started to feel that maybe "ultra-modern" wasn't the way to go. Sure, it was clean, but it really lacked character (not to mention that as my social circle grew, I needed places for people to sit). So I started buying stuff to fill the space, being very careful to buy only things which I absolutely needed. I was careful and it paid off. I've managed to create a living space that feels lived-in but is still very sparse and easily manageable.

I throw out anything I don't need - and I've really had to get over my previous "packrat" living style. It's nice to open all my drawers and see barely anything inside, or to look at my shelves and only see a few scattered books. I definitely feel a lot more at ease with my life and workload when everything is in order.

I've applied this simplistic principle to other things in life besides living space and I've found that, most of the time, it works out.

I'm a lot more easygoing about much that I was not previously. It's made life simpler. I've had plenty of big disappointments in the last five years that have certainly taken a toll on my mental state and at this point, I really can't allow myself to care anymore. I mean, yeah, stuff happens that really sucks. But it's enough already. Really. I'm tired of trying to change things and am much more willing to accept things for the way they are. And I'm much happier.

Now, I'm not at all saying I've given into the lackadaisical culture of California. Of course not. There are still plenty of social things out here that bug the hell out of me, fundamentally. However, I think I've taken from it what I want and need and have put it to good use.

Thoreau had said: "Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail."

Life is better when it's simple.

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